Spectres
by Kuroneko19
Summary: AU. Lina Inverse decides to skip school one day, but taking refuge in an abandoned industrial complex during a rainstorm leads to more than just a case of truancy.
1. Boredom

_Author's note: Minna-san, konnichiwa! K-chan here! I've decided to try my hand at a Slayers alternative universe fic, so this should turn out to be fun. ^_^ Let me know what you think! Remember: questions, comments, suggestion, and/or constructive criticism are all welcome! Here it goes!_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own Slayers. I just like to write. ^_^_

* * *

**Cast of Characters:**

_Lina Inverse_ – a brilliant but troublesome dual enrollment student at Saillune University, she decided to skip school on a rainy day and found herself in a world of trouble

_Xellos Metallium_ – a Mazoku, or in layman's terms monster, who made a pledge with the Red Priest but didn't exactly keep his bargain. He finds Miss Inverse to be an interesting new subject

_Zelgadis Greywers_ – a stoic young man trapped in an old building, he was placed under a curse by the Red Priest for an act of betrayal, and is startled to find a certain redhead wandering around

_Rezo_ – Known as a miracle-worker by his peers and coworkers, his identity as the Red Priest in the occult faction of Saillune over 100 years ago is what led to him making a pledge with one of the higher-level cult members and he delved deeper into his search for a cure for his blindness

_Pokota_ – Formerly Posel Korba Taforashia, he was the son of the head of the founding family in Taforashia. Like Zelgadis, he was place under a curse by the Red Priest after discovering that the deal made by a friend of his didn't go exactly as planned

_Jiima _– A hyperactive, but nevertheless clever Astral Sprite whose deal with a demon led to more than she'd bargained for

_Filia Ul Copt_ – A Knight from the Order of Ceipheid 100 years prior to this tale, she too is trapped in the complex, and is easily riled up when one certain purple-haired priest comes around

_Valgaav _– another cursed being in the haunted complex, he was trapped here by Xellos after his former master was killed

_Mimsy Borogoves_ – a little girl who follows Valgaav around, she is actually half Mazoku and is a certain General Priest's apprentice

* * *

******Spectres  
**By Kuroneko

**Chapter 1: Boredom**

Lina Inverse was a nonconformist. Anyone who knew her could tell you that. When quilted handbags were in fashion, she wore an old cross body. When the other girls wore designer coats and sweaters in the winter, Lina would go about in an old baggy zip-up hoodie she'd found in a rummage, which was usually zipped up to hide the fact she had a dozen sweaters under it to keep warm. She kept her fiery red hair long and wild in sharp contrast to the lovely blondes and brunettes she went to school with. Whenever she was asked why she did all this, she would simply reply, "I hate being like everyone else."

Given this description, the average person would most likely conclude that Lina Inverse was a problem child. If you were to ask her sister and her sister's friends, they would wholeheartedly agree. If you asked her friends, they'd laugh it off without really answering. If you asked her teachers… well, they weren't so readily inclined to comment (although they would have liked to).

Lina was a brilliant young woman; there was no doubt about that. In comparison to most of her peers, she was practically a genius. She was top in her classes and she was even top in her college dual-enrollment courses, which came as little shock to anyone. She would have been in the running for Valedictorian if it wasn't for all the other things…

By "all the other things", they really only meant one thing: Lina Inverse would have been destined to be Valedictorian if she hadn't been _Lina Inverse_. Despite her brilliance, Lina was a handful. She was quick-witted to be sure, but she had a quick tongue to boot and it came laced with venom if anyone ever crossed her. Unfortunately for just about everyone, she had a fiery temper to match her hair and there were many days when it was all too easy get on her bad side. For this reason alone, Lina had been suspended several times, reprimanded even more than that, and on the days that she wasn't at home waiting out her suspension, she was usually skipping school.

No one could quite put a finger on why Lina acted the way she did. Some people blamed it on her home life – after all, her mother had died only two years ago after fighting a losing battle to a long-term illness, leaving Lina and her older sister, Luna, on their own. It was seldom that the sisters got along, Lina being the way she was and Luna having become more of an authoritarian in recent years. Others blamed it on her somewhat crazed social life. She had some friends, of course, but they were a motley group, and one not easily understood at that. Sometimes she would hang out with them, but other times she ignored them completely. No one seemed to mind; it seemed as though they were relatively happy with each other. There were a few people who marveled at the fact such a girl could even _have_ friends – Lina already had problems dealing with other people. Because she was rather underdeveloped for her age, she was often a source of ridicule, something that was usually remedied by actions stemming from her notoriously short temper. What no one cared to notice, though, was that she tended to become nervous in large crowds, and classroom settings often left her feeling slightly claustrophobic. That and, despite her excellent exam scores, she always suffered from test anxiety and answered the questions as quickly as she could. Like her mother always said, she was a free spirit, and free spirits don't need their wings clipped.

These were not always the reasons why she would often find herself skipping school and bailing out on her "friends". More often than not, it was because she was bored with the curriculum and, worse of all, bored with _them_. As far as she was concerned, the work was too easy and therefore a complete waste of her time. In her mind, it was better to stay home than to waste an entire day.

It came as no surprise when Lina woke up that Wednesday morning to discover that she didn't want to go to school. It was a cloudy morning in Saillune and Lina grumbled as she pulled the covers over her head. She could already hear the sort of comments everyone was going to make about the weather and she wasn't looking forward to any of it.

One crimson eye opened to glare at the blaring alarm clock, which told her it was 6:15 AM in bright red digital numbers. She had to refrain from smashing this one – the last time she'd annihilated her alarm clock with the small bat at her bedside, and was later met with swift and memorable punishment from her older sister.

Speaking of whom…

Lina cautiously peered over the comforter, eyes darting around hesitantly. Where was Luna? She was usually throwing things around in the kitchen at six, and now was about the time she'd fling the random pot or pan through the door to wake the redhead up.

Today, however, the apartment was eerily silent.

"Luna?" she called out a bit hesitantly. No one answered.

She slipped out from under the covers and crept out of her room, waiting for an oncoming projectile in case Luna was still around. To her relief and slight bewilderment, none came.

Lina found this to be a bit strange. Luna was never gone this early in the morning. Wondering briefly if her older sister was ill, Lina stepped out into the hallway and walked down to Luna's bedroom door.

"Luna?" she called out a bit more quietly, knocking lightly on the closed door. If Luna had been in there she would've yelled out various obscenities, but Lina was once again met with utter silence. _'That's odd…'_

She made her way into the kitchen, finding that the apartment wasn't as silent as she'd thought as the radio statically crooned out some old romance song. On the counter she found an assortment of very large muffins piled into a sort of small pyramid sitting next to a small sheet of paper. Plucking the top muffin off the pile and biting into it, Lina picked up the note and read the familiar loopy handwriting.

_Lina –_

_Sorry I had to rush out so early, but it couldn't be avoided. Helmina called in sick at the last minute so Martina and I are pulling double-shifts today. I already made breakfast. Make sure you've got your lunch money and don't forget to lock the door when you leave for school. I'd better not get another phone call from the high school today. _

_Don't try to unplug the answering machine again. I'll be making random test calls to see if it's working._

_Take care. I'll see you tonight._

_Love,_

_Luna_

Lina finished off the muffin as she put the note back down on the counter and began to think. Helmina Ul Court getting sick was a rare occasion; Luna being called in with Martina was even rarer. This was practically a godsend: with Luna out this early, Lina didn't have to rush out of the house. She could take her time and be late if she wanted.

"But I really _don't_ want to go to school today," she said to herself in the empty apartment. The radio in the kitchen now playing some old rock song was the only other sound. She knew what today would bring: boredom. It would be another normal, boring day at the high school; her college courses only met on Tuesdays and Thursdays. "But there's no way in hell that I'm just going to sit around _here_ all day."

Staying home and babysitting the answering machine was the best way to be rid any evidence of truancy – just rewind the tape and the next message would record right over it, simple as that. She'd seen her mother do it a hundred times just to save money on buying new tapes. But even if she did that and erased the history on her computer after booting it up, sitting down on the Internet was just plain boring. _Staying indoors all day_ was boring.

Gloomy weather or not, Lina wanted to go _out_.

"Oh, what the hell!" she said at last, walking back into her room and quickly changing her clothes while stuffing another muffin in her mouth. She'd take Luna's wrath when she got home. It would definitely be more interesting than anything her friends would have had to say, anyway.

As much as she hated to admit it, Lina found most of her friends to be about as enlightening as her textbooks, and that was a comparison that made her frown. She really did like them, she could hardly deny it, but none of them provided what she would call "stimulating conversation". Sylphiel Nels Rahda was sweet, but she a bit foolish and her boyfriend, Gourry Gabriev, was an even bigger fool. He hadn't earned the nickname "Jellyfish Brains" for nothing. Good-looking or not, he was lucky his father was the football coach and he hadn't kicked his son off the team after he'd failed twice. Lina was sure there were some brains in the guy, but he never really acted like it. Then there was Amelia. She loved the Junior to bits, but once that girl started off on her "purveyor of justice" streak and her plans for going into law and politics, Lina just wanted clobber her (and usually did).

That was her whole problem: she was surrounded by loving, if somewhat dim-witted, companions, a curriculum that bored her to death and a sister who, although highly intelligent herself and very knowledgeable about her sister's dilemma, would kill Lina if she ever so much as breathed a complaint. That was one of the reasons why she did what she did: beat 'em up and don't get caught, and if you need a break, take it when you can because they don't come around often. That's what their mom used to say, and not even Luna could have argued with her mother.

**…**

A few minutes, fifteen more muffins, and two glasses of milk later, Lina looked around the apartment for a moment and wondered if there was anything she was forgetting, but smiled when she realized that she wasn't. With having to pull a double-shift, Luna wouldn't get off her job as a waitress at Merle's until seven-thirty that night, and then she was still going out to see a movie with her friends, which meant she wouldn't be back until ten or so. Aside from school and homework, Sylphiel had that date with Gourry to look forward to that evening, which effectively eliminated either her or that football player boyfriend of hers from being a nuisance; Amelia had come down with the stomach flu two days ago, and she was still at home, recovering. Lina found herself wishing that Amelia had given it to her older sister, Gracia (or Naga, as liked to call herself), but she supposed that it was more of a blessing that Amelia's loud and obnoxious sister had the stamina of a horse.

'_Because if she didn't, Luna wouldn't be going out tonight_,' she thought smugly. It was too perfect of an opportunity: Naga would get drunk and Luna would have to take her home, which would set her back a good half-hour before returning to the apartment that night. But if Helmina was sick, then Luna would check on her first, setting her back a good deal further. If everything went well, she'd never realize what Lina had done until the next morning. Or not, depending on how well Lina could fix the tape on the answering machine.

That settled it. Grabbing the keys from the peg by the door, Lina smirked. She was going out, but she _wasn't_ going to school.


	2. Rainstorm

**Chapter 2: Rainstorm**

It felt great to be outside!

Lina smiled broadly as the rundown apartment complex faded in the distance. Despite the early morning gloom and the weatherman's prediction of rain sometime today, she was happy. With a working CD player, headphones, and small backpack filled with extra CDs and snacks, who wouldn't be in a good mood? Skipping school, Luna being gone, and those muffins she'd had for breakfast – _that_ was what made a good morning.

She must have been over a mile away from the apartment before she felt something following her. Making sure not to appear wary, she calmly stuffed her hands in the deep pockets of her zip-up hoodie and fingered the can of pepper spray resting next to her CD player. That was another thing she'd learned from her mother: caution.

Over the music from her headphones, Lina could hear the engine of a car. As it cruised alongside her, she cast a glance in its direction and groaned when she recognized not just the vehicle but also its longhaired driver.

"Well, now, let me see: red hair, old black oversized sweatshirt, a tiny little frame…" a familiar voice mocked. Lina turned to glare as the police cruiser neared. "Oh, look, it's Lina Inverse."

"Hello, Zangulus."

Officer Zangulus smirked as he pulled the cruiser to curb and cut off the engine. "I swear I must have missed the announcements again. Tell me, Lina, did they cancel school today? They must've, considering Saillune High's in the _other_ direction."

Lina rolled her eyes as she removed her headphones. "Aren't you supposed to be doing something constructive? Like taking out the bad guys, for example?"

"I'm just doing my job," Zangulus said nonchalantly. "Making my rounds, looking for trouble… stopping truants from avoiding school." He looked at her pointedly. Lina was about to fire off a comment when suddenly Zangulus' radio blared to life.

"_Attention, dispatch, any patrol cars near Phoenix Avenue? I have a five-oh-two."_

"Five-oh-two? Oh, great, another DUI," Zangulus grumbled as he picked up the radio. "And we're supposed to be converting to plain speech…"

"I thought you guys were using Ten-codes*," Lina teased. Zangulus shot her a dirty look.

"This is Car 67 responding. Heading over."

"_10-4."_

"Betcha anything it's Naga again."

"Probably," Zangulus said, rolling his eyes as he went to hang up the receiver. Sure enough, the telltale earsplitting laughter erupted over the radio, and both the officer and truant had to cover their ears, Zangulus dropping the receiver in his lap in the process.

"Yup, it's Naga."

"_OHOHOHOHO! Attention all patrols, this is –!"_

"_Naga, would you get off the radio?"_ another familiar voice interrupted. _"For Ceipheid's sake, you nut, I wasn't being serious!"_

"_But, Aramis, you said I could –"_

At this, Zangulus snatched up the fallen receiver.

"Aramis Dawes-Trask, how many times do I have to tell you to not let your subjects talk on the radio‽" he erupted. "One more time, buddy, and I'll have you on a 10-30*, capeesh?"

"_Aw, c'mon, Zang__!"_ His partner's voice laughed over the radio. _"We're only having a little fun here! Lighten up for once! It's not like it's inspection week!"_

"Oh, I'll lighten up, all right. Next time you use a code, suspected DUI is a 10-55, not a five-oh-two. We're not in Zoanna."

"_OHOHOHO! Zangy, you're so mean to Officer Aramis! And what's the matter with little old Naga talking on your radio?"_

"Because _you're_ the one who's failing the breathalyzer, that's why!" As Zangulus fumed, Lina was shaking in silent laughter. "I'll be there in five minutes. In the meantime, Aramis, keep her away from the radio!"

"_Whatever. Geez, Zang, you're a real killjoy, you know that?"_

"Drop dead, Aramis."

Lina could hardly control her laughter at their banter. Saillune's police force was second to none, but the patrols on the east side of the city were considerably more relaxed than most. Only Aramis would be able to pull off his antics and get away with them here – if this had been the northern part of Saillune, he'd have been canned a long time ago. The precincts up there apparently had no sense of humor.

"You think that's funny?" Zangulus cocked an eyebrow at her as he hung up the receiver. "You won't think it's funny when I regularly start hauling your butt to school, Lina Inverse."

"Aw, come _on_!" she protested, folding her arms. "You know how boring all that pencil-pushing is! Why should I waste my time on all that when I can be doing something more interesting?"

"Because it's the law," Zangulus said flatly. "And I enforce it."

"Yeah, right. Tell that to me when you stop helping Phil bail Naga out of DUIs."

"Hey, I'm only doing it out of the goodness of my heart," he miffed, holding up his head in mock dignity. "Besides, have you ever heard the kind stuff Amelia goes on about every time Naga gets picked up? Better to sweep it under the carpet, if you ask me."

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess I can't blame you," Lina said with a shrug. She knew all too well what Amelia was like when it came to Naga's drinking. She'd had the misfortune of visiting Amelia one day and walking right in the middle of the Junior giving her older sister one of her speeches about drinking and driving after one of Saillune's officers found Naga speeding near the university and escorted her home along with a hefty fine. Needless to say, Naga hadn't paid much attention. She was too busy drinking what Lina suspected was her eighteenth glass of sherry that afternoon. "Besides, Naga's a happy drunk, so placing her in lockup overnight wouldn't be the nicest thing to do to her."

"Since when did you care about doing anything nice?" Zangulus gave her a suspicious look as he turned the engine.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

He backed the patrol car up and swung into the lane.

"Look, Lina, I won't say anything to Luna but you really have got to start going to school more often. You're going to wind up in some big trouble one of these days if you're not careful. Saillune's safe enough but it's still not perfect," Zangulus intoned as he drove away. "I'm really sticking my neck out for you like this, kid."

Lina shook her head with a slightly lopsided grin on her face. Zangulus was always saying stuff like that to her but he meant what he said, especially the part about him sticking out his neck. If Luna ever found out that Martina's fiancé was hiding Lina's truancy from her, customers at Merle's would probably find new ingredients added to their orders.

Still shaking her head, Lina turned and continued along the sidewalk, slipping her headphones back over her ears. If Naga was starting _this_ early, Luna was going to have a lot of fun this evening.

She continued on her way, entertaining the notion of Zangulus burgers being on the menu at Merle's. She wondered if Gourry would eat one – in addition to his notorious lack of intelligence, the big lug was well known for having a cast iron stomach and an endless appetite that rivaled even her own. She concluded that he probably _would_ eat a Zangulus burger, provided no one told him what the key ingredients were. Gourry liked trying new food and he was a good sport about surprises, too.

Lina giggled. It was a sick but humorous little thought. Sylphiel and Amelia would have been horrified.

It wasn't long before the residential district faded and the apartment buildings turned into businesses. The scenery wasn't much different aside from that. But Lina didn't pay much attention to the buildings and their gradually deteriorating visages. After walking a few extra blocks, she turned a corner and breezed down an alleyway before reaching her destination.

She leaned up against the old chain-link fence and stared at the ruined building beyond. The skate palace used to be her all-time favorite spot. When she was a kid, they used to go there every weekend and even more on vacations, even if it was just to play the arcade games. That was back when her mom was well and Luna wasn't such a sour-puss. Then one day a couple summers ago, not long after her mother died, the skate palace filed for bankruptcy and closed shortly after. The following Christmas vacation, a few students from Saillune University accidentally caught the building on fire during a party and all that was left were the charred remnants of whatever survived the fire, a parking lot that was now crumbling and full of pot holes, and the old sign standing just outside the gates.

Lina stared at it all emptily as the music from her CD player blared in her ears. For a moment, she thought she could see the old building intact again, and there were swarms of teens and children clamoring to get in, while her mom was shouting, "Lina, Luna! First one in gets the biggest slice of pizza!" Then, as quickly as it came, the parking lot was there again and the palace was just that pathetic charred half-skeleton surrounded by cracked cement and weeds.

"Well, Mom, maybe it's better this way," she said, walking along the fence. "It makes sense that you took the best part of Saillune with you. I don't think it would have felt right otherwise."

There was a loud clap of thunder overhead and Lina suddenly found herself getting very wet.

"It's just my luck that it would have to rain _now_," she groaned, and instinctively pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head. It looked like the weatherman had gotten it right for once, but why did it have to be on the day she wanted to be outside?

Almost as if defending their right to be there, the steel-gray clouds issued a greater deal of rain, drenching the truant girl as she stood dumbfounded on the sidewalk outside the old skate palace gates.

"All right, all right, I get the picture!" Lina yelled in the downpour. "Jeez, can't you give a girl a break?"

She darted along a nearby alleyway, trying various vestibules and doors to find a decent shelter until the rain let up. Unfortunately, the eastern section of Saillune was what was jokingly referred to as the Low Rent District, which meant that most of the buildings either were run down or abandoned entirely. Lina just happened to be in the old business district, the most desolate part of the city.

After minutes of searching in the buckets of rain and now thoroughly soaked from the wind throwing her hood back, Lina finally managed to wrench one old and rusted metal door open. It didn't just squeak on its hinges – it shrieked loud enough to overpower noise from the storm.

"Finally!" she exclaimed, diving through the door. She wrung her hair out as she watched the downpour continue to worsen, and a crack of lightning illuminated the old building and alley. "Man, am I glad to be out of _that_." Giving her hair one final wring, she shook her long mane out and quickly pulled it back with a hair band she had on her wrist.

"Well, since I can't go outside for awhile, I may as well do some exploring," she said to herself as she slid her headphones down to hang around her neck, and turned to get a look at her new surroundings. She was apparently in the back entrance to some old business. From what she could see in the eerie darkness, the hallway continued too far for her to see. On either side of her were rows of doors, one or two that were opened, and several closed with cloudy glass windows. Wishing she had a flashlight, Lina walked up to the nearest door and pushed it open.

It was a room with large grimy windows looking out at the rain-drenched streets of Saillune's Low Rent District. Against the grey of the outside, Lina could make out several rows of desks and machines, all of which were covered in cobwebs and dust. As she walked towards the desk nearest to her she could smell the overpowering mustiness. The desk itself and the things on it were caked in years of dust. She leaned over curiously, and wiped the dust off what looked like an old photograph. Out from where her fingers had brushed, a bespectacled man in an old-fashioned business suit looked up at her with a smile.

"Probably got a promotion," Lina muttered as she wiped the dust off her fingers. She straightened herself out and headed to the room across the hall. It looked to be a break room judging by the benches and the time clocks near the door.

She continued to hunt in various rooms, giving up on a few doors that turned out to be locked. This was obviously one of the old factories; judging by its appearance and a lot of the machinery she was finding, it must have been well over a hundred years old. She wasn't very surprised at this revelation – there were literally hundreds of places like this in the White City. Saillune was one of the oldest cities around next to Sairaag and the head of its founding family – who happened to be Philionel El Di Saillune, Amelia and Naga's father – was adamant about maintaining its historical foundation. Along with the well-preserved old buildings, there was an abundance of the condemned mixed in as well thanks to Phil's policy on historical preservation.

Lina went to open another door and hesitated. For some strange reason she was suddenly very cold. Shivering a little, she jiggled the handle. Locked. Pulling her sweatshirt around her for warmth, Lina backed up. The hall was unnervingly silent.

Lina pulled her CD player out her pocket. The digital display was blank. She frowned and pressed the "play" button twice. The player indicated that the battery had died.

"Hang on a sec… didn't I put new batteries in you before I left?" she asked the now dead CD player. Not expecting an answer, she pulled her headphones off, wrapped them around the presently useless item, and slid one arm free from a backpack strap to put the lot in as she walked. She looked up from her task into a room with an open door and froze in the middle of slinging her bag back over her shoulder.

For just a moment she thought she saw a little girl with short dark teal hair, mismatched eyes, and a pale blue pinafore over a darker colored dress darting into the next room connected by another open door. Calling out, Lina chased after her, pulling her arm through the strap, and found herself in another room, this one full of scattered yellowed papers and desks and chairs that had been shoved roughly aside. It looked as though there'd been a fight.

"Hello?" Lina called out, looking around for any sign of the girl. It was strange, but she didn't see anyone.

"That's weird," she said to herself, walking around slowly. "I could've sworn I saw little girl here. Was I seeing things?"

There was loud _thump_ overhead. Lina darted out of the rooms and headed to where the hallway ended with an enclosed stairwell.

"Hello?" she called out again, peering upward. She couldn't see anything, but it was very dark up there…

There was the sound of a slamming door, followed by a high-pitched maniacal cackling. Lina took a step backward. Exploring suddenly didn't feel like such a great idea anymore.

"Screw this, I'll take the rainstorm," she said, and dashed back towards the exit.

Something was wrong, very wrong, as Lina soon noticed. The hallway hadn't been all that long before, but now it seemed to be going on forever. It felt like there were more doors than there actually had been. She continued to run, wondering how long it would take until she found the exit, until she abruptly halted in front of a solid brick wall that hadn't been there before.

"Oh, hell!" Lina did an about-face and crashed through the nearest door, which placed her in an office without windows. Panicking, she ran against the door opposite, which turned out to be locked.

"My, my. Aren't we the feisty one," an echoing voice floated down the hall, fueling Lina's sudden panic even more.

'_Crap, where the hell did the door go?'_ She tried another door and wound up in the janitor's closet.

"I'm afraid you won't find the exit anywhere going on like that," the voice said in answer to her mental screaming. "If you'd like, I can offer you my assistance – provided you calm down, of course."

Lina turned around at the sound of the voice, which was suddenly much closer and had less of an echo to it. Her eyes scanned in the shadows for any sign of a person, until at last they came to rest on the stairwell at the end of the hall. It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn't gone very far at all despite her running.

Standing on the landing, statuesque and resplendent in Victorian garb and leaning slightly against a gold-tipped cane stood a man with shoulder-length purple hair, his eyes strangely closed, wearing a grin that did nothing to ease her anxieties any.

* * *

_**A/N:**__ In doing a little research on police codes, I came across a whole bunch of them and their different meanings. When Lina mentions Ten-codes, she referring a form of radio communication for cops, only I don't think they all mean the same thing in every state. I'm just using whatever I could find. On the website I checked into, a 10-30 refers to the unnecessary use of the radio_


	3. Enter Mazoku

**Chapter 3: Enter Mazoku**

It's bad enough when a person discovers they're trapped in a place they've never been in before; it's even worse when someone unexpectedly shows up behind said person.

"Well now, what do we have here?" the man said as he descended from the landing slowly, his face turned in her direction.

"Who are you?" Lina demanded as he came near. She froze up when he stopped right in front of her and took her hand into one of his gloved ones.

"My name is Xellos Metallium," said the man, and kissed her hand lightly. "I watch over the premises."

"You mean you're the… caretaker?" she asked, suspicious. _'Let go of my hand!'_

"Hmm… yes, I suppose you could say I'm the caretaker." He straightened up, but did not let go of her hand. "Now then, why don't you tell me how you came to be here? It isn't often that I have visitors."

'_I can see why,'_ Lina thought before answering, "I'm not visiting. I just ducked in here to get out of the rain."

"Ah, yes, the rain…" His smile seemed to broaden. "I've noticed over the years that rain often brings in such interesting guests. Oh, and you're wet as well, I see. We can't have you catching a cold now can we?"

He waved his cane suddenly and Lina flinched, expecting it to hit her. Instead, there was a light brush of wind against her and she found herself a little warmer, her clothing and hair no longer clinging to her body. Eyes snapping open, she looked down to see that she was completely dry.

"How did you do that?" she demanded, her free hand going for the pepper spray that was still in her pocket.

"I can do a lot of things," Xellos replied. "For instance, I can give you a nice cup of tea –" he let her hand go and held it in front of him at chest level, a teacup and saucer suddenly appearing out of nowhere. "Or, if you like, perhaps some apple pie?" The cup and saucer warped into a luscious slice of pie with whipped cream on the top. Ordinarily, Lina's stomach would have growled on the spot, but she was too bewildered for her body to react properly.

"You really are a trickster, aren't you?" she asked, backing away. She had a bad feeling about this guy.

"So I've been told," Xellos said with a shrug. "But I do keep my word. For instance, I'd be more than happy to give you something to take home with you if you like. Name anything in this hallway – a painting, if that's your fancy – and it's yours. Or maybe you want something a little less trivial?"

The pie vanished, and Xellos took another step toward her, one hand gripping his cane, the other gesturing as he spoke.

"Money, power, even a way to make you a little less lonely," he intoned, the grin on his face seeming to increase with each word. "You _are_ lonely, aren't you? I can read it in your aura – your mother died not all that long ago, if I'm not mistaken."

'_How does he know that?'_ Lina's mind screamed. _'It wasn't even in the obituaries!'_

"I know quite a lot," Xellos continued, almost as if he could hear what was going on in her mind. "I know, for instance, that you're currently playing a truant, seeing that this is a school day. I also know that you're bored with those around you and would like a challenge worthy of your intellect. Interestingly enough, I believe I can help you there."

The can of pepper spray was now out of Lina's pocket and clenched firmly in her hand, finger on the trigger.

"I can give you anything you like, anything at all. All you have to do is tell me what you desire."

Lina gulped. School was suddenly becoming appealing. "I don't _desire_ anything. I just want to go home now."

"Oh, I'm afraid not, my dear," said Xellos, moving even closer to her, pinning her against the wall. Her can of pepper spray fell to the floor with a clatter.

'_Where the hell did the door go? I want to get out of here!'_

"You see, the only way you'll be able to get out again is if you make a deal with me." He was quite close now, and Lina could feel a strange sort of energy coming from him. It wasn't the warmth of his body, but something different altogether. It was the strangest sensation she'd ever felt, dizzying and manipulative, like she'd go with just about anything he'd say if he remained near her. It was difficult to shake off. "But first, tell me what your name is."

"Lina. Lina Inverse." The answer slipped out of her before she could think.

"Inverse?" Xellos' eyes snapped opened, and Lina shrank back when she saw amethyst shards staring at her curiously. "Lina Inverse… yes… I suppose it would have to be."

Almost as if on cue, Lina heard the screeching of rusted gears coming to life, and particles of dust scattered all over. Inhuman moans and shrieks threatened to shatter her ears as they rose in volume, and then fell into a steady rhythm.

**…**

"Hey, you hear that?"

The ivory-clad figure sitting in the darkened corner only grunted in response.

"It's the machinery again," the speaker observed. "I guess they had to scare away another vagrant."

**…**

"The gears are turning again…" A set of golden shard-like eyes looked upward angrily. The man wiped a few aqua green bangs from them as he grumbled in the darkness. "What's that fruitcake up to _this_ time?"

**…**

"As I said before, the rain often brings in interesting visitors," Xellos said almost cheerfully, his eyes still locked onto her. "And it would seem that you've brought along with you a breath of new life, Miss Lina."

"What the hell is all this?" she demanded.

"A wrong question, I'm afraid," Xellos answered, eyes dancing; "but one that I'll happily answer. This is an industrial complex. What you hear now are the machines getting the kinks out of their systems."

"Machines?" Lina blinked. "But the machinery in here has to be at least a hundred years old! How could this stuff still be running?"

"The age of something doesn't really matter if it's still able to function."

Lina's eyes narrowed. "Just who are you, anyway? I have a hard time believing you're just some caretaker."

"I told you already: my name is Xellos Metallium. And I want to play a little game with you, Miss Lina. I haven't had anyone to play with for a long time now, you see, and I think that you just might provide me with the challenge I desire."

That twinkling in his catlike eyes was eerie. The more she looked at him, the more she wished she'd gone to school. What he said about playing a little game struck a nerve – she'd heard that line from a horror movie, hadn't she?

"I can see you're uneasy," Xellos stood back and considered her while leaning against his cane. At least, that's what he appeared to be doing – he'd closed his eyes again. "Very well, how about we establish some rules?"

"Rules?"

"Yes. After all, every game has them. Why don't we come up with them together? That way we can reach an agreement without any problems."

'_Sneaky, isn't he?_' Lina gave him a disapproving look and folded her arms. "I don't think so."

"Huh?" Even with his eyes closed, Xellos' face registered surprise.

"If I go ahead and make up a batch of rules with you, then all you'd have to do is come up with a way to weasel out of things and then berate me if I say something's unfair," she pointed out. "Besides, you said that you haven't played this little game of yours in a while, which means you've done this before, am I right?"

"Well, I…"

"In that case, I'll just go along with the rules that have already been established. The only thing I'm going to request is that you give me a few answers."

Xellos chuckled. "All right then. Provided they are the right kind of questions, I will answer them."

"All right, let's say I win this little game of yours. Then what?"

"If you win, I will show you the exit to this place without hesitation and you can go home. But if you lose…" Xellos opened one eye to look at her with what appeared to be sadistic pleasure.

"If I lose, then what?"

Xellos chuckled. "Well, let's just keep that a secret, shall we?"

Lina considered her situation, arms still folded. She didn't trust this Xellos character one bit, but it didn't look like she had much choice in the matter. Somehow or another, the exit was gone and now there was just the wall she was currently up against. Making the door disappear and drying her off – there had to be some kind of trick to this. Maybe if she played along… after all, this _did_ seem to be pretty interesting in comparison to her Algebra class…

"Fine, but you'd better get ready to point me to that exit, because Lina Inverse _won't_ lose."

Xellos laughed, long and loud, until it became the exact same maniacal cackling she'd heard before he appeared in the stairwell.

"Perfect! That's just perfect!" he exclaimed, sweeping a bow. "That's _just_ what I wanted you to say! If I'm correct in my assumption, this will be a most interesting game indeed!" A gloved hand extended towards her. "So then, do we have a deal?"

Despite the little chibi version of herself inside her mind screeching that this was a bad idea, Lina shook his hand, cinching their agreement. "It's a deal."

'_This is a really stupid idea, Lina!'_

He cackled again, and there was a shout from somewhere overhead. Lina briefly glanced upward, then looked back again to Xellos, only to discover that he was gone.

"Hey, Xellos!" she called out, looking around for the mysterious purple-haired man. "Don't I get a clue or something? Couldn't you just answer a _question?_"

"I'm sorry, Miss Lina, but here is where I must depart." Xellos' voice floated somewhere above. "I'm afraid you'll have to go at this on your own. I'll leave you to the fate of your decisions for now, but when you have the right questions to ask me, all you have to do is say my name and I'll appear before you without hesitation. Those are, after all, the rules of the game."

"Hey, hang on a second! _XELLOS!_"

The only answer to her shouting was sound of the machinery eerily grinding and squealing, seemingly controlled by phantom operators.


	4. Spectres

**Chapter 4: Spectres**

Lina rushed over to the stairwell to see if Xellos had gone back up to wherever he'd come from but he wasn't there. Exasperated, she let out a groan and sank on the bottom step. She couldn't believe her luck. All she'd done was seek refuge from that thunderstorm and now she was playing a game with a purple-headed weirdo that she couldn't get a straight answer out of!

"What have I gotten myself into this time?" she wondered aloud, resting her chin in her hands. "Maybe I should have listened to Zangulus after all… nah…"

She looked at the time on her cell phone. 8:23 AM. By this time she'd have completed a morning ritual of riding the bus, going into the cafeteria, grabbing a second breakfast, and shoving Amelia off the table in middle of one of her "Morning Glory" speeches. Then she probably would have had to throw that idiot Hallis Ryzu into the wall again for his usual pathetic attempts to flirt with her. Lina had sent him sailing through the al carte line at lunch enough times that they said Hallis had learned how to punch in his school ID number along the way to pay for his meal. She'd heard a rumor that his parents were going to transfer him to Saillune Royal Academy, one of the city's more elite private schools. She couldn't wait for next semester to arrive to see if the rumors were true.

Lina snickered; though she was by no means a bully (the likes of which she despised), tormenting wimpy Hallis Ryzu was always a laugh. Rich kid or not, there was no denying the guy was an invertebrate.

"Well, I won't get anywhere by sitting around and thinking about what I'd be doing at school," she said to the air, and got up. "Now, let's see…" She looked around and thought for a moment. "The logical thing would be to start here and work my way up. But there's probably a lower level than this, so I don't want to forget that…" She walked back over to the wall and picked up her fallen can of pepper spray, placing it back in her pocket. "I guess the best way to start is here and just mark the doors I've been through."

This looked to be a good idea. All the doors were filthy with dirt, dust, and who knew what else, so all Lina had to do was take her finger and mark an X in the grime.

"Door number one, here we go," she muttered, walking through the door she'd crashed into when she tried to get away from Xellos' floating voice. She stood in the doorway and blinked.

Instead of the windowless office she thought she'd seen before, Lina found herself back in the room with the large grimy windows overlooking the grey and wet streets of Saillune's so-called Low Rent District, the same desk next to the door. The only difference now was that the machines were alive and running and sending up clouds of ancient dust as the gears turned.

"Huh?" Lina poked her head back out in the hallway. She couldn't see the stairwell anymore; the hall was dark again.

'_What sort of game is this anyway?'_ she asked herself, walking into the workroom with a frown. "Is he trying to test my sanity or something?"

She directed the question at the man smiling in the photograph she'd wiped the grime off of earlier. Thankfully, she didn't receive an answer.

'_Not that I expected one anyway with the way _this_ place is,'_ she thought sourly, and walked along the rows of desks that separated her from the grinding machinery.

"I wonder what they manufactured here," she muttered, watching the exposed gears turn in a systematic rhythm. She caught sight of a small pile of fabrics in the corner. Textiles. That wasn't at all surprising. From what she remembered from her history classes, each major city held a position during the Industrial Revolutions, the second one in particular. At the turn of the century, Sairaag was a textile and medicine empire and Ruvinagald was a steel manufacturing giant. Taforashia had been a bit slow on things, but it too saw the emergence of the factories and became the leading exporter of raw materials other factories needed as well as other things: rivets, bolts, the list went on. It added onto Taforashia's already solid mining industry.

Saillune, however, was probably the mother of all industrial manufacturers. Steel, textiles, and later automobiles – the only thing Saillune hadn't been able to outrank was Sairaag's medicine industry. Because of its prosperity, Saillune had been able to dabble in virtually everything during the Second Industrial Revolution, which was how so many industrial complexes came into being.

And now one Lina Inverse was stuck in one of them over a century later, playing "a little game" with a man with purple hair, closed eyes, and an irritating smile.

As she began to fume again over being stuck in a building because of that weirdo, Lina accidentally knocked over a long metal pipe. The sound of it striking the cold concrete floor brought her back to reality. She looked at the pipe for a moment and looked back to the grey street beyond the dirty glass. Then it hit her.

Metal pipe plus dirty old windows. An equation for…

"Well, Xellos, you really _didn't_ think of everything, now did you?" she chuckled evilly, picking up the cold metal pipe from the floor and walking to the window. It was so insanely simple: just hit the window with the pipe and the old glass was sure to break. Why hadn't she thought about it sooner?

Without giving the matter another thought, Lina took the bat in both hands and took the position of someone up to bat. "Bye, bye, window," she muttered, and swung with all her might, causing the glass to shatter on impact.

"All _right_!" she cheered, pumping a fist in the air. "Now I can get out of – _hey!_"

Before her eyes, time seemed to be going backwards in slow motion. The shards of broken glass assimilated back into place, and the longs cracks smoothed over and disappeared, making the window look as though nothing had ever happened to it.

Lina had a hard time trying not to yell, "That's not fair!" when the words "That's impossible!" were threatening to escape. She instead opted for something different altogether:

"What the _hell?_"

"Now, now, Miss Lina. Did you _really_ think I'd let things end that easily?" a now familiar voice floated overhead, sounding all too amused by her predicament. "I think you should realize by now that the only way for you to get out is to play by the rules, the second being that you must not cheat by trying to leave the complex early. The only way out is the door, which is hidden."

"Hang on a moment, what was the _first_ rule?" Lina looked about for the purple-haired trickster, ready to give him a good beating with her pipe.

"Why, asking the right questions of course," his voice said matter-of-factly. "And, I must say, you truly are making for great entertainment. Please keep up the good work, Miss Lina!"

"Xellos!"

There was no answer. He was gone again.

Lina couldn't believe this guy. If anyone decided to redo _Alice in Wonderland_, Xellos would be the Cheshire Cat for sure!

As she was fuming, she failed to notice the gears of the machines behind her shift, and the rhythm took up a slightly faster tempo.

**…**

The basement was a great place to be if you didn't want to be disturbed. No one had bothered with Building 6's main furnace since the complex's demise, and none dared enter this domain since the day the man with the aqua green hair and the mysterious scars on his face took up residence.

This individual had taken a piece of chalk and had begun to draw one on of the brick walls. It was a normal pastime, as evidenced by the myriad of images overrunning the aged red brick. This piece was one he'd done many times before: an eight-headed dragon with a raging inferno behind it. It looked very realistic – even the flames were good, surprisingly. He might have enjoyed it more if it hadn't taken him the better part of the last fifty years to get it this good.

"Well, I must say, we're getting to be quite the artist aren't we, Valgaav?"

A pair of golden shard-like eyes shot up under the aqua green bangs. The artist spun angrily to find a purple-haired man now clad in a dark cloak of the ancient priesthood, a staff in one hand, standing several feet away with that familiar smile still plastered on his face.

"_Xellos…_" Valgaav's eyes narrowed. "To what do I owe the displeasure of _your_ company?"

"Now, now, Valgaav, don't worry about me," Xellos said, continuing to smile broadly, causing Valgaav to ball up his fists angrily. "I was just checking to see if the main furnace was still in working condition."

"The furnace?" This statement took the artist aback. "That thing hasn't been run in over ninety years, if not an entire century! Why would you be curious about it _now_?"

Xellos chuckled. "You don't _listen_ very well, do you?"

Valgaav still didn't know what the trickster was going on about but his ears picked up the sound of the gears still turning overhead. Ordinarily he wouldn't have bothered to listen, but there was something different about that sound now. It sounded like it was faster… that meant…

A whistle from the furnace snapped Valgaav back into reality. Xellos was now gone, but the lights on the old steel monstrosity lit up and the acrid scent of old soot, metal, and whatever else had build up in the smokestack over the years filled the air. Valgaav wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"I can't stay here if it smells like this," he muttered, wondering what Xellos was up to when he noticed something crumbled in the palm of his hand. Looking down, he realized that in his anger he'd succeeded in turning his piece of chalk into dust. "Damn… that was my last piece, too…"

**…**

"Well, so much for trying to bust out of here," Lina said with a frown. She tapped the pipe against her thigh in frustration. "Come to think of it, where exactly is _here_, anyway?" She struggled to look out the window for a sign, but then she remembered that these old industrial buildings didn't _have_ signs – they had their names painted on the buildings themselves, and the paint had probably faded away with weather and age as primary contribution.

To make matters even more frustrating, the storm outside had gotten worse, and Lina could hear the wind and rain battering heavily against the old building. It sounded like it was in a competition against the grinding machinery to see which could make the most noise.

She walked out of the room, marking an X in the dust on the door as she left, and went into the room across the hall. It was the break room again. She went up to the time clocks, thinking she would find the name of this old complex plastered somewhere. She was correct in this assumption, but the faded writing the clocks and a few time cards really didn't help her any. The best she could make out was on the time clock nearest to the door:

C yw rs I d tri s

"Well, _that_ doesn't get me anywhere," she muttered bitterly, staring at the old letters. She couldn't help to think that that C might have been a G, and that struck a chord somewhere in the back of her mind.

Suddenly, somewhere out from the grindings of the machines and the fury of the rainstorm, Lina could hear a girl's voice singing gently:

_The songs of the warrior, so sweet and so gentle  
Will rock me softly to my slumber  
Where there in the moonlight coming from above  
We shared our final kiss in white Saillune_

**…**

Brilliant sapphire blue eyes snapped open in the shadows. Sensitive ears twitched at the familiar tune, the lyrics wavering through the walls as the voice continued into the chorus:

_Oh, you'll take the high road, and I'll take the low road  
And I'll be in Sairaag before you  
My true love and I shall never meet again  
For we went our separate ways in white Saillune_

"Singing…" he looked up at his companion. "Do you hear it?"

The small creature listened intently, picking up the notes out from the grinding of the ancient machines. "Yeah, I can hear it. And I heard the gears shift, too. I wonder what's going on out there."

Without another word, the owner of the sapphire eyes rose, his ivory cloak falling with a rustle.

"We'd better go see," he said, pulling a hood over his head.

**…**

"Hello?" Lina called out, darting back out into the hallway. She strained to hear the bits of the song as the voice continued into the second verse. It sounded less mature than she'd thought – much younger, in fact. Closer to her own age by the sound of it.

She soon found herself back at the enclosed stairwell, looking up into the darkness. Craning her head over the railing, Lina could still hear the voice. It must have been coming from the second floor. The idea of another person in the building brought about a mixture of relief and slight panic. It could be another person trapped like her, but who was to say that it wasn't Xellos playing tricks on her like he had with the window?

**…**

"Hey, slow down, would you?" the tiny creature whined, trying to keep up with his ivory-clad companion. "What's so important about that song, anyway?"

"Be quiet!" the hooded man hissed for what must have been the twelfth time while trying not to run full-speed in the direction of the singing. "If you want to know what's going on, you'll keep your mouth shut, Pokota."

"Someone's being touchy today," Pokota remarked sarcastically, folding his tiny arms across the zipper in his chest. "I bet you anything it's just Xellos trying to play another trick on us like he did the last time with that record player of his. Come on, Zelgadis – this is ridiculous!"

Zelgadis gnashed his teeth in irritation. Pokota might have been right. After all, Xellos lived for tormenting people, whether they were unsuspecting passerby or one of the denizens of the complex. But this wasn't any trick. He _knew_ that song, and he knew that _voice_…

The duo descended multiple levels, and crossed Ceipheid knew how many hallways, offices, and grinding machines before finally landing on the catwalk overlooking Building 6's second-floor textile assembly and packaging room. Zelgadis's intense sapphire eyes scanned the floor below for something, anything.

Then he saw the mane of fiery red bobbing up and down between the rows of machinery. To Zelgadis's massive disappointment, the singing had stopped, but form below surprisingly dulled the blow considerably.

He leaned in further, not believing his eyes at all. It was a girl! A girl with hair like wildfire, wandering around the complex, following the voice, it seemed, just as he had!

"What? A _human_?" Pokota's shocked voice brought Zelgadis out of his swimming thoughts.

The sapphire eyes peeled away from the girl below to look over at him in slight irritation. "Are you forgetting that you were once human yourself?"

"No, that's not what I mean!" Pokota's tiny form hopped impatiently on the railing. "Look at her! She's a living, breathing human and she's wandering around the complex! I thought humans couldn't _do_ that!"

The ivory-clad young man suddenly realized the significance of his companion's words. All of the others – the vagrants, the police – had taken off abruptly. _She_ was the first to go exploring. With Xellos acting as a guard dog, nobody got any farther than the service hallway of this building. How was this even possible?

More importantly, why did she have to have red hair?

"Oh, well. Even if she _is_ a human, I don't think she'll stick around for very long," Pokota thought aloud, perching himself on the railing with his arm-like ears in contemplation. "It's just some flat-chested little runt, not anyone important. Guess there's nothing to worry about."

"Weren't you the one who just pointed out that she shouldn't have been able to get this far?"

Pokota shrugged. "Yeah, but maybe Xellos is trying something different. After all, he says he likes variety. I say we go back to Building 7 before we get dragged into whatever that fruitcake is up to."

"You do as you like, Pokota._ I'm_ going to follow her," he said, and swept by the small figure beside him, his cloak flowing behind him as he walked into the darkness of the catwalk. Pokota's jaw dropped.

'_What's eating him?'_

"Hey, Zelgadis! Wait for me!" he hissed, and sailed after the disappearing figure.

**…**

"Okay, Lina, _now_ where do we go?" She looked around the new sets of machinery warily. She'd lost the source of the voice, which was saddening, but she couldn't let that get her guard down. She didn't trust that Xellos guy. People who smiled too much like that were usually up to something. For all she knew, that voice was probably a ruse.

He wanted to play a game. Just what kind of game was he wanting to play? She could vaguely remember hearing something about a horror film that involved a game, but she doubted this guy was a serial murderer. Or was he? After all, they never found Coatl the Killer…

'_Get a grip on yourself, Lina.'_

She continued to move about the machinery, pipe clenched firmly in one hand.

**…**

'_So she's made it to the second level. Time to have a little extra fun.'_

"Who's there?" A woman's voice demanded. "Who dares to disturb me in my quarters?"

"Now, now, my dear High Priestess; no need to be alarmed," Xellos said pleasantly, walking out from the shadows. He paused to bow before the figure turned away from an old oak desk, staring at him angrily. "How are we doing on this fine rainy day?"

"I'm the same as always," the woman replied bitterly, leaning her head onto one hand. "Unlike you, I don't have an _active_ pastime that involves harassing people."

"Which is exactly why I've come to see you." Xellos looked up with his eyes now open and glittering mischievously, the smile still permanently attached to his face. "I was wondering if you would like to join me in a little game…"

**…**

Well over an hour had passed now since the singing had ended. Lina continued to walk around the second floor, peering at boxes, machines, and crumbling products in search of any indication as to what the old factory used to be a part of. Now she was in an old office with a window overlooking the alleyway she'd dashed through to get out of the rain. Even though she was only on the second floor, she was pretty high up.

"What _is_ it with this place?" she wondered aloud, scratching her head. "I can't believe that there's absolutely nothing around here that's still intact with the name of this old junkyard plastered on it."

"I guess you're not easily deterred," a woman's voice said from behind. Clutching her pipe in both hands now, Lina swung around. There was a woman with short-cropped raven hair and garbed in a tight-fitting black and crimson uniform leaning against the doorframe staring at her. Something in the woman's cold copper eyes flickered. "It looks like the General-Priest wasn't kidding – you look very much like her indeed."

"Who are you?" Lina demanded, waving aside the question of who it was she looked like. "Do you work for Xellos?"

The woman smirked. "My name is Eris," she said; "High Priestess in the Saillune faction of the Cult of Shabranigdo under the command of the almighty Red Priest."

"Red Priest, huh? Funny, I figured him more for purple or black."

Eris laughed. "No, Xellos isn't the Red Priest. He may be of high ranking, but he's _not_ the one in charge here."

Lina's mind was working fast. This woman obviously wasn't the one who'd been singing – her voice didn't match up with it. Not only that, but she obviously knew Xellos, which could only mean one thing:

Lina was definitely in trouble.

**…**

"Hey, Zel, move over, I want to see what's going on!" _KERTHUNK!_ "Ow! Hey, what'd you do that for?"

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"Oh, put a lid on it, would you? I want to know what Eris is doing in there!"

Zelgadis leaned over the railing, trying to get a decent view and having to shove Pokota aside in the process. That little stuffed animal wasn't the only one who wanted to know what the resident High Priestess was doing out and about.

**…**

"I take it you're playing Xellos' little game, too?" Lina said conversationally while trying to figure a way out of the office.

"You could say that," Eris replied mildly with a smirk. "And I wouldn't bother looking for an escape route; the only exit is this door right here, so you won't be going anywhere."

"Okay, then maybe you can answer a few questions for me," Lina suggested. She wasn't about to let Eris know she was nervous about being cornered like this. "First of all, where am I?"

"This is an old industrial complex that ran during the Second Industrial Revolution," Eris explained. "Right now you're in Building 6, which was used for textile manufacturing and packaging."

'_Tell me something I don't know.'_ "All right, but what was the _name_ of this old place back in its heyday?"

"Hmmm…" Eris seemed to contemplate the question, but Lina could see what was coming. "I don't think I'll tell you."

"And why not?"

"Xellos told me the rules of this little game and one of them involved answering your questions. As it turns out, I don't have to answer anything that I don't want to."

Lina tightened her grip on the pipe as Eris began to smile.

"Ordinarily, I don't play by the rules," the High Priestess continued, lifting a hand that was now crackling with electricity. "However, I happen to like this particular set. There are fewer restrictions than I'm accustomed to, which means I get to experiment." The electricity continued to crackle, and was now a bright blue-white light in the palm of Eris' hand. "Let's see how well you can withstand a Digger Bolt."

"_Light come forth!"_

Out from behind Eris a blast of white light shot out, barely missing the High Priestess as she dodged to the side. Lina dove behind the rotting old desk next to the window and watched as the light shattered the glass before the window repaired itself.

"If you want to play a little game, why don't you pick on someone who knows how to play back?" a man's voice asked somewhat testily. Lina looked over the desk to see a wiry man with aqua-green hair sticking up in places over a black headband. He held a strange sort of staff in one hand, white light dancing on either end. In the light, Lina could make out his strange golden shard-like eyes, scars on either side of his face, and…

Was it just her, or was there a _horn_ poking out from his head?

"So it was _you_ who stole Ragud Mezegis!" Eris erupted at the newcomer.

"_Stole_?" The man chuckled. "I think you should rephrase that. If I recall correctly, Ragud Mezegis belonged to my master and me _long_ before the Red Priest sought out the Dark Star weapons. If anyone has the right to complain about theft, it would be me. I've merely taken back what's rightfully mine."

"That weapon belongs to the Red Priest, and you know it!" Eris snarled, throwing out one hand. "_Digger Bolt!_"

A bolt of electricity shot out at the newcomer. With a smirk, he held up his weapon. The electrical shot was abruptly absorbed into the tendrils of white light. As Lina watched from her spot behind the desk, she could see Eris visibly falter. That seemed to please the man considerably.

"Care to test the power of a Dark Star weapon?" he taunted with a smirk.

Eris' eyes darted back and forth between Lina and him, trying to decide what to do. Lina had a feeling that this wasn't a part of the game.

"Fine, I can tell when I'm not wanted." She bowed her head a little and smiled, taking the man aback. "But mark my words: I'm not out of this game yet."

Thunder clapped outside, accompanied by an oddly bright flash of lightning. When Lina blinked, she saw that Eris was gone. She stepped out from behind the desk and gave her "rescuer" a grin. _'May as well be polite. I sure don't want that thing pointed at _me_.'_

"I can tell you aren't with Eris, so I guess I should be thanking you." The man merely stared at her. "But I still don't know _why_ you helped me out."

Still he said nothing, but Lina was happy to note that the light had been extinguished.

"Um… you're not working with Xellos, are you?" She regretted asking that. The man's face contorted with anger at the mention of the trickster's name.

"Xellos?" he spat out the name with a sneer. "I wouldn't work for Xellos even if he were my only path to salvation!"

'_Well, at least he talks.'_ "Can you at least tell me who you are? And what's that light thing?"

"Who I am is unimportant, and Ragud Mezegis is none of your business," said the man, golden catlike eyes narrowing. "All you need to know is that I am only one of many spectres skulking in the shadows of this complex."

"Spectres?" She didn't like the sound of that.

"Yes, spectres," the aqua-haired man asserted, and turned his back on her. "And if you're smart, you'll get out of here."

"That's what I'm _trying_ to do!" Lina shrieked at his retreating backside.

"Then maybe you should do it a little faster," he called over his shoulder, turning the corner.

"What? Hey, wait a second! You with the horn!" She dashed after him and skidded to a halt in the hallway. He wasn't there. Lina groaned and threw the pipe to the ground angrily. "What _is_ it with this place and people disappearing?"

**…**

"You summoned me, Great Priest?" Xellos asked, bowing to the seated form in front of the desk.

"Ah, Xellos." The tall figure turned to face him, his closed and unseeing eyes directed at his subordinate. "You are my eyes for all that occurs here. Please, tell me: are those the machines that I hear?"

"They are indeed," Xellos replied, straightening up from his bowed position. "A visitor came in from the rain, so I decided to play a little game for the duration of their stay."

The Red Priest frowned a little. "And what possessed you to that? I've never known you to such a thing before."

"Ah, yes. Well, the visitor is a young girl whom I find to be particularly intriguing."

At this the Red Priest grinned. "How amusing. If I recall correctly, the only woman you ever found to be intriguing was that young golden dragoness." With a chuckle, he folded his hands in his lap. "Please, tell me what this intrigue is like."

"She is a very young girl, slightly underdeveloped for her age, with eyes and hair like wildfire."

"Like wildfire, you say…?" Xellos grinned as the sage's face turned from one of amusement to one of deep thought. "I take it that _she_ was the one I heard singing…?"

"Indeed, you _did_ hear singing, my Lord," Xellos said. "However, it did not come from her. You see, that is yet another thing that intrigues me. It would appear that the lady visitor has awoken our little 'Keeper'."

"I see." The wheels turned in the man's head, and he suddenly had an idea. Turning back to his desk, he said quietly, "It's been quite some time since I last interacted with anyone outside my followers."

"My Lord?"

"I want to play this game as well," the Red Priest said, smiling in the shadows. "If that's all right with you, that is."

Xellos's eyes opened and sparkled more brightly than normal as he said in his most obedient voice: "But of, course. It wouldn't be a proper game at all without _you_, Lord Rezo."

* * *

_**A/N:**__ The song Lina hears in this and following chapters is to the tune of "The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond". Just for a little historical referencing, "Loch Lomond" is a traditional Scottish song that was first published around 1841, but I think it was around long before that. There are many interpretations of the song, mostly surrounding war from what I've been able to gather – it was written sometime after the Jacobite Rising of 1745, I think (sorry if I've got my information a bit backwards; Scottish history isn't my forte). I've always seen it as a tragic love song, and that's pretty much the context I used when I wrote the lyrics for the song Lina hears._


	5. Rezo

**Chapter 5: Rezo**

In Luna Inverse's apartment the telephone rang for the second time that day, switching quickly over to the answering machine.

"_Hello. You have reached the number of Luna –"_

"_And Lina!"_

"– _Inverse. Please leave your name, number, and a message, and we'll get back with you soon. Thank you." _

BEEP!

"_Hello. This is an automated message from the Saillune County School System. Student __**Lina Inverse**__, attending __**Saillune High School**__, was recorded as absent for the following classes: __**English IV Honors, Algebra II Honors**__. Thank you."_

**…**

"What _is_ it with this place and people disappearing?" the redhead shrieked, throwing her pipe to ground. Shaking her head, she bent down to pick up the metal object and clenched a fist around it, oblivious to the audience above.

"Wow, Valgaav actually came out of the basement," Pokota said with a low whistle. "I didn't expect _that_ to happen."

"Neither did I," Zelgadis said absentmindedly, eyes locked onto the red hair meandering angrily below them. "It makes you wonder what all is going on around here, especially with Eris showing up. Now why did she do that?"

"Enjoying the show?"

The two whirled around. The High Priestess herself was standing right behind them.

"I thought you two were skulking about somewhere in this building," she chuckled. "Everything begins to smell differently when _scum_ wanders in."

"Hey, who are you calling scum?" Pokota shot at her, glaring angrily. Zelgadis held up a hand, gave him a look to quiet him, and rounded on the smirking High Priestess.

"Not too happy to see me are you?" Eris lazily leaned up against the railing and gazed up at the ivory-clad figure. "You don't have to worry. I'm just doing like you: watching the show. Mind if I join you?"

"Actually, I mind very much," Zelgadis snarled, folding his arms. "Haven't you got anything better to do, Eris?"

"Yeah, like praying to Shabranigdo that maybe your precious Rezo will actually pay more attention to you!" Pokota taunted evilly, earning a livid reaction from the High Priestess. Zelgadis braced himself as he felt the crackling energy gather around her.

"Now, now; is that any way to treat your superiors?" an annoying voice floated toward them from nearby.

"Xellos!" Pokota yelped, suddenly feeling something grabbing at his hand-like ears. "Put me down, you rotten Fruitcake!"

"And hello to you too, Pokota," said the purple-haired man as he phased into appearance. "My, my. I wasn't expecting to find you this easily. Shouldn't you be in Building 7?"

"How could we be with all the noise that's going on?" Zelgadis snapped as Pokota took fierce, though obviously useless swipes at the trickster. Xellos smirked and flung the tiny creature aside. Pokota managed to stop himself in mid-air, and hovered angrily next to his companion. "Just what are you up to, anyway?"

"Who, me?" Xellos pointed to himself with mock surprise. "I'm just playing a little game, that's all."

"I have a hard time believing that." Zelgadis narrowed his eyes. Xellos felt the negativity radiating from the ivory-clad being and smirked evilly.

"Believe what you like, Zelgadis. It's only a little game being played for the benefit of personal entertainment."

"Well, if this is a 'game', then what's _she_ doing down there?" Pokota demanded, pointing to the girl below.

"She's part of the game," Eris said coolly. "Or, to be more precise, she _is_ the game."

Zelgadis snapped his eyes wide with apprehension. "What do you mean 'she _is_ the game'? What are you planning to do to her?"

"Oh, I don't plan on doing anything to her," Xellos answered pleasantly. "I'm just having a bit of fun, that's all. As it stands the game's just warming up and Miss Eris is only one my little players."

"And Valgaav?" Pokota prompted. "Don't tell me _he's_ playing with you, too."

"Valgaav? Oh, my heavens, no!" Xellos placed a hand to his cheek in feigned horror.

"Then what was he doing down there?" Eris asked curiously. She'd been startled by the man's abrupt appearance and wondered if Xellos had roped him into this as well without telling her. Xellos was known to do things like that, after all. "I thought you might have invited him as well."

"Well, I didn't _invite_ him, per se," Xellos said cryptically. It wasn't a lie – he hadn't invited Vlagaav into the game. More like instigated his appearance. "If he chooses to join us, that is entirely up to him. However, there is _one_ person who has joined the fray, and he requests a little cooperation." Here he cracked open an eye and peered over to a sudden very stiff Zelgadis and a suspicious Pokota.

"What do you _want_, Xellos?" Zelgadis demanded, narrowing his eyes.

**…**

"The things I do sometimes…" she grumbled as she walked along the catwalk. "I was hoping I'd get a chance to catch that performance at Saillune Concert Hall, but _nooo_! It had to fall on the exact same date as my appointment! Sheesh. I should have realized that making that Pact was going to be a mistake…" She looked down below with a frown. "It's too bad I'm confined to Saillune, because it's been over a century since I've seen Ruvinagald. Still, beggars can't be choosers, so I guess I – What the…‽"

The girl stopped abruptly and leaned over to catch the sight of a redheaded figure under the catwalk. Jiima was so fixated on the person below that she nearly fell over the railing.

"Well, well, well… it looks like Xellos found a new playmate. I'm actually kinda jealous," she joked to herself, grinning immensely. "Maybe it'll be worth missing that organist after all… I'd better follow her."

She walked a little more briskly along the catwalk, all the time observing the figure below. Red hair, petite stature – if she could get a look at that girl's face, she'd have her answer.

Jiima couldn't help but grin like the Cheshire Cat – this had to be it! That meant she could get off this job and not be paired up with that Fruitcake Mazoku anymore! Yes! _Yes!_ _YES!_Maybe this last century hadn't been such a waste after all!

"What do you _want_, Xellos?" a familiar and decidedly angry voice demanded. Jiima's head snapped up to find a small group clustered a little ways from where she stood.

"Uh, oh." She promptly phased out before anyone saw her, but remained nearby on the Astral Plane to hear the conversation. She figured Xellos would probably sense her presence but she didn't really care. Something was up. Those people wouldn't have been out if there wasn't. And then there was that girl down there…

Jiima bit her lip to keep from grinning insanely. Girls with flaming red hair don't just waltz into abandoned industrial complexes on a rainy day. Especially not _this_ industrial complex.

**…**

"It isn't anything _I_ want," Xellos said pleasantly, noting to himself the shift he felt on the Astral Plane. "It's what Lord Rezo wants."

"You invited the Red Priest?" Zelgadis felt like the world was coming to a cataclysmic end. Unbeknownst to him, the girl watching from the Astral Plane was having a similar reaction.

"Actually, he invited himself," said Xellos, privately enjoying the myriad of emotions floating around on both planes. It was delicious – being cooped up like this made it difficult for a monster to get the proper nourishment in a variety of flavors. Naturally, he was taking advantage of this impromptu buffet. "Being as I am subordinate to him, who was I to refuse? He also requested that I have you play as well, Zelgadis. He mentioned you specifically, by name."

As Zelgadis raged within himself, Jiima did several mental calculations while suspended in the Astral Plane.

'_The Red Priest is making his move this early?'_ She scrunched her face in concentration. _'If this is what I think it is, I don't have time to dawdle. With Xellos orchestrating the event, it should be okay… but if Rezo gains the upper hand…' _

Jiima was missing what Xellos what saying but she knew he'd catch up to her later. Right now she had work to do, and her first task was to get a look at that redheaded intruder.

**…**

"You want him to do _what_?" Pokota exploded. Zelgadis' face was a mask of undefined emotion. "I knew your mind was warped Xellos, but this is ridiculous! I refuse to be a part of this game of yours, and I'm sure Zelgadis agrees with me." Xellos frowned at the stuffed animal's venting. "Find one of your other lackeys to do it, because we _won't_."

"Being defiant again, are we?" Xellos wagged a finger at the two. "Need I remind you that it was that same defiance that got the both you cursed in the first place?" Zelgadis and Pokota clenched their fists at this. "I've been lenient up to this point, but disobey me now and I promise you that the next century won't be so pleasant." His tone turned stern at the last bit, and he opened his eyes for emphasis.

"You lousy –" Pokota growled, but was instantly silenced once more by Zelgadis.

"We'll do it," he said, the tone of his voice ringing with finality. Pokota looked at him in utter shock. Xellos' lips curled into a smug grin.

"Good," said the Trickster Priest, and silently phased out. Eris gave the two a final look and disappeared as well. Pokota blinked at where the two had been before he looked at Zelgadis incredulously.

"What do you mean, 'We'll do it'?" he demanded. "Are you out of your mind?"

"No," Zelgadis said sullenly, pulling his mask over the lower portion of his face. "I'm just avoiding a bad situation."

Pokota frowned as he watched his companion walk into the shadows of the catwalk, but said nothing as he followed after him. In the time that he'd known the man, Pokota had found that getting information out of Zelgadis was never an easy task.

For Zelgadis, the silence welcome. Pokota was hard to shake off sometimes. It was understandable that he'd want to know things – he'd only been around for maybe seventy-five years or so. Zelgadis couldn't really recall what year it was that the young boy and his friend had been transformed and hunted for sport in the complex. But Pokota hadn't been there when _it_ happened, hadn't been there to understand.

He hadn't heard Xellos' taunting voice in his, saying with what sounded like sadistic delight:

"_Remember what happened the _last_ time you defied us."_

**…**

Lina walked down the hall, having given up looking for the strange man and now back to looking for the source of the singing that she'd heard earlier. A large part of her hoped to hear it just one more time, even if just to lose it again. She knew that song. It was one that her mother used to sing back when she and Luna were younger and went to bed by either song or story. An old song that went back centuries, it was about a girl and her lover who met and were later separated by conflict. Some said it dated back to the mythical War of the Monsters' Fall.

She missed that song. Hearing it again meant more to her than she was willing to admit.

But the concern of the missing door and this ridiculous maze of a building quickly dashed aside pleasant memories and returned her to the present. That song didn't change a thing. It didn't change the fact that she was stuck in here, and it didn't change the fact that this place was one great, big enigma. And now she'd come to find that this enigma just may have been the haunted type.

Lina stopped looked down at the pipe with a frown. Spectres, the guy had said. Like most people, Lina assumed spectres to be the equivalent of ghosts, and pipes didn't work on ghosts. The idea of swatting someone and watching the pipe go right through them unnerved her a little.

A madcap trickster with purple hair, disappearing doors, windows that magically repaired themselves, singing that came out of nowhere, a guy with aqua green hair, a horn, and a strange weapon; a woman who claimed she was a High Priestess in the name of the Dark Lord Shabranigdo, and now the possibility of spooks.

Well, this was definitely more appealing that throwing Hallis Ryzu around the cafeteria, but it was still very irritating that she was involved in a game that didn't seem to have any particular point to it, and Lina was getting more than just curious.

She really needed to know which old complex this used to be – she had a suspicion that alone would answer many of her questions. The fact that Eris, Xellos, and that strange man had all avoided that question was a major point in Lina's mind. Eris and Xellos may have been working together, but it was pretty obvious that the man had nothing to do with them. Actually, it sounded like he flat-out hated the both of them. Theoretically, that wouldn't have given him any reason not to even _hint_ at the complex's name; instead, he'd told her to get out.

"_If you're smart, you'll get out of here."_

"_That's what I'm _trying _to do!"_

"_Then maybe you should do it a little faster."_

The whole situation was odd. Lina had a hunch that there was more to this old complex than just Xellos and his rather obvious affinity for being a panic inducer. For instance, this whole Red Priest bit. Who was that? That self-proclaimed High Priestess mentioned a General Priest, too. Could that have been Xellos? He didn't come across as any priest she'd ever heard of. Then again, Eris didn't look much like a high priestess, either.

"…_High Priestess in the Saillune faction of the Cult of Shabranigdo…"_

"…under the command of the almighty Red Priest," Lina muttered to herself. "If I've seen a High Priestess and a General Priest, then where's the Red Priest?" She was beginning to feel like she was in a chess match.

_Cult of Shabranigdo._

She felt her blood run cold. Shabranigdo was no laughing matter. Despite her disdain for school and textbooks in general, ancient mythology was something Lina practically specialized in, having done research for her own personal enjoyment. Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo was the legendary dark lord of their world. Like anyone else familiar with the legends, she thought that his worshippers had all but died out, the remnants of the cults having gone underground and continuing to operate in secret.

'_Oh, hell…'_ Could she have accidentally stumbled onto the Saillune faction's headquarters?

The very idea sent a new wave of fear over the truant dual enrollment student. Shabranigdo cult members were known to be ruthless and brutal. According to all the rumors, the infamous Coatl the Killer, who'd made his reputation in much same way as Jack the Ripper, had been a Cult member himself. It wouldn't have been unlikely – those in the Cult of Shabrigdo were said to take part in the most ancient and horrific of rituals, including (though not limited to) human sacrifices. A raid in Sairaag back in the 1920s, when the Cult activities increased in frequency alongside Prohibition crimes, revealed chambers hidden under banks, warehouses, and even under the university there. It was pretty gruesome stuff.

And the worst part was that the Cult was still out there.

**…**

Jiima peered round the corner to look at the redhead who now stood stock-still and submersed in her thoughts. Her electric blue eyes squinted despite her glasses; she wanted to make certain she was seeing things properly.

A soft shuffling noise and the sound of what might have been a cane hitting the floor caused her to tense up. She knew that sound all too well. Damn the Red Priest!

Against her better judgment, Jiima phased out and wound up on the fourth floor, breathing heavily. With any luck, the man hadn't sensed a thing.

**…**

Lina froze. One set of footsteps. Heels connecting to the floor along with light shuffles. The _tap-tap-tap_ of a cane hitting the floor.

'_Xellos!'_ her mind shrieked, and her grip on the pipe tightened even more, not in fear, but in cold anger. Cult of Shabranigdo or not, she wasn't going to be reduced to coward _this_ easily!

"All, right, Xellos, I know you're there!" she called out, spinning around to confront the darkness behind her. "Quit playing games and get over to where I can see you!"

"Is that the voice of a young lady I hear?" a soft, unfamiliar, and disarmingly pleasant voice asked. Lina paused for a moment. "Please, miss, if you'd be so kind, I heard you mention Xellos' name. Could you tell me where I might find him? I've been searching for hours now."

Lina took a step back, uncertain what to make of the situation. After a moment, a figure emerged from the shadows.

He was tall, very tall, enough to easily tower over Zangulus and Gourry; a commanding figure, held upright with the airs of a gentleman, like he'd come from the northern part of the city. In the dim light coming from the grimy windows, Lina could make out dark violet hair that flipped out either side of his head like bird wings. His eyes were closed and his face was serene, caught somewhere between young and old.

Lina's eyes trailed to take in the expensive suit and the grace he walked with. It wasn't until she saw the source of the tapping that she gasped:

It was not a cane, but a white walking stick. The man was blind.

"Forgive me for startling you," he apologized.

"No, I'm sorry for calling out like that," she said hastily, lowering her pipe. She felt ashamed. _'So concerned about Xellos and Shabranigdo, you probably scared the poor guy. Great going, Lina.' _"I thought you were someone else."

"That's quite all right, young lady." He gave her a pleasant smile, and extended a hand to her. Lina looked at him for a moment, then walked up to him and accepted. His hand practically engulfed hers in its grasp. "I hate to ask, but is there somewhere I might be able to sit? I've been wondering about for the longest time and my legs could use a rest."

"Yeah, just follow me." She guided him over to a metal barrel, which he sat upon gratefully. As he settled himself, Lina found a small stool, which she pulled over so she could sit across from him.

"Much better," he said. He paused almost thoughtfully, apparently listening to his surroundings. "I can hear the machinery."

"Yeah, it's been running for several hours now," Lina responded. She wondered what time it was now. "It's pretty strange, considering most of this stuff is well over a hundred years old."

"Things made in the past have long since proven themselves to surpass similar creations of the present," the man remarked sagely. Lina couldn't argue with that. That statement was easily proven just by a cell phone comparison – she and her sister had older model cell phones, lucky enough to have cameras, but her own was a living testament to its own durability. Amelia and Naga were always being spoiled by their father, and always had some new cell phone model for a birthday or special occasion. The irony was that those expensive phones always broke the first time they were dropped. Lina had dropped hers more times than she could count, even thrown it a few times, and it was _still_ operational.

"I want to thank you." His voice brought her away from her cellular thoughts. "If I hadn't heard you before, I wouldn't have known where to go. Were you the one I heard singing earlier?"

Lina shook her head, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't see her. "No, that wasn't me. I know the song, but I wasn't singing it."

"Oh, that's too bad," he said, looking slightly put out. "It was such a pretty tune, too."

"Yeah," Lina sighed in agreement. She put her head in her hands and leaned her elbows on her knees. "I'm Lina, by the way. Lina Inverse."

"Lina… that sounds so very pretty. My name is Rezo Greywers," the man explained, folding his hands in his lap. "I've just recently acquired this complex from a relative who passed away, and was trying to survey the area."

"Greywers?" Lina came out of the enchanted stupor of hearing her name being referred to as "pretty", and her eyes widened at the sound of the surname. "You mean this is the old _Greywers_ Industrial Complex?"

"It is," answered Rezo. Concern passed over his surprisingly ageless face as Lina groaned loudly. "Is anything the matter?"

"'Is anything the matter?'" Lina gave him an incredulous look. "Yes, something's the matter! I've just gotten myself trapped in one of the worst possible buildings in all of Saillune! Didn't anybody tell you that this industrial complex is _haunted_?"

"Yes, I _have_ heard of such a thing…" Rezo said slowly, confusion beginning to override concern. "Although I never truly believed the rumors. There are no such things as ghosts, after all."

"Tell _that_ to all the people who've sent in surveyors," Lina muttered, sinking her head into hands. _'Oh, great. The __**Greywers**__ Complex. Just what I needed. Oh, man! I should have listened to Luna and Zangulus!"_

She wanted to know the name of the complex, and, lo and behold! She found it, all right.

Suddenly, the idea of this place being the hidden base of the Saillune faction of the Cult of Shabranigdo didn't sound all that ridiculous anymore. If a demonic cult were to spring up anywhere in the White City, the Greywers Complex was it.


	6. Preparations

**Chapter 6: Preparations**

It all came together with horrible finality.

C yw rs I d tri s

**G**re**yw**e**rs I**n**d**us**tri**e**s**

This was her reward for skipping school and ducking into some random building when it began to rain.

'_I wound up in the Greywers Complex.'_

Lina was really beginning to regret her decision.

"You mean you actually accepted ownership of this place even when you knew what happened here?" she asked, looking at Rezo in sheer horror.

Rezo frowned. "Whatever are you talking about? I thought it was just another case of an abandoned building being supposedly wrought with spirits of the undead."

"Oh, brother, were _you_ misinformed!" Lina buried her head in one hand. "Has anyone ever actually _told_ you the story about this place? You know, about the murders?"

"_Murder_s?_"_ Rezo looked to be fairly alarmed. "Are you referring to the victims of Coatl the Killer?"

Lina shook her head even though she knew he couldn't see it. "No, not just that. Even though Coatl was said to have disappeared into this complex prior to its abandonment, that _isn't_ what I'm referring to." _'Oh, man… how am I going to explain this? I thought everyone knew all the stories about this place!_' She took in a deep breath before continuing. "First of all, could you tell me what all you _do_ know?"

"Certainly," he replied. "The Geywers Industrial Complex was established during the height of the Second Industrial Revolution by Arlen Greywers. After five years of successful operations, however, he and his wife were found dead under mysterious circumstances. It was at this point that Arlen's grandfather took over the company and adopted his great-grandson, Arlen's only child. Years afterward, Greywers Industries continued to be as highly profitable as ever. But the great-grandson broke from his remaining family and the company closed shortly after. Following the closing, both men disappeared. That's about as much as I've heard. I was regrettably never very close to my family, so I'm afraid I know little else."

"Well, that's what you might call the 'abridged' version of the story," Lina said, shocked at how little the man truly knew. "Yeah, Arlen Greywers started up the company not too long after he married his wife, Anna. His father died and left him a ton of cash that he made prior to the industrialization of Saillune, so Arlen decided to open a multi-specialty industrial complex to capitalize on the rapid progress being made. The entire complex was said to take up ten or twelve city blocks, it had expanded so much.

"It's also true what you said about Arlen Greywers' death. According to the old police reports, it was definitely murder. Some people thought it was linked to business rivalries; others thought it was related attempted robbery. A few years later, the style of the murders led police investigators to think it was one of the earlier crimes that Coatl the Killer may have committed before he made name for himself.

"After that, Arlen's grandfather took over the business. I can't recall his name, but I remember reading somewhere that he was a retired physician who'd earned the nickname 'The Miracle-Worker' for his endeavors in the medical field. He took over the company with an old partner of his and was named the guardian of his only living relative – Arlen's son. The physician and his partner expanded on the complex even further, if I remember right. The two of them and the physician's then-grown great-grandson oversaw the construction of two apartment buildings for workers and their families, and only took a little bit from their salaries as rent. It was a pretty nice set-up from what I gathered."

"Pardon me for interrupting, but how is this all that different from what all I've just told you?" Rezo interjected, now looking thoroughly befuddled.

"Well, as I was saying before – it isn't," said Lina, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "What you've heard is true… to a point. When you get to the disappearances, that's where it gets a little complicated.

"According to urban legend, it all started when the physician's partner was found dead in his office. The police wrote it up as a possible suicide, but kept it wide open on the idea of foul play. Not long afterward, the great-grandson turned on the physician. The reasons were never really agreed upon – some said it was jealousy for the older man being so successful; others suggested the physician had turned the guy's girlfriend away, saying she was no good for him. There are a whole lot of ideas running around as to why he did it. A really popular one is that the physician killed his business partner and the kid was out for revenge. At any rate, the story goes that one day, after work hours, the great-grandson attacked the physician and killed him, hiding his body parts in various places in the complex. After that, he disappeared. Nobody knows if he killed himself or if he fled Saillune altogether. A majority of people believed he hanged himself, but his body was never found. Neither was the physician's for that matter."

Rezo's face betrayed his stunned reaction. "That's a horrible tale," he said finally. "Is it true, do you think?"

"Well, that's debatable," Lina admitted. "I'm not usually given to believing in urban ghost tales, but I've never been one to discount paranormal activity. Given the building's history, that story's been taken up as fact. It was only five years or so later that Coatl the Killer disappeared into the Greywers Complex and shortly afterward the murders in Saillune at the time noticeably decreased. Not only that, but the contractors and surveyors who'd come out to inspect this place all left reports that opened up a lot of questions. At first the construction companies thought it was a few people playing pranks, but when their senior workers filed similar reports, well…"

"What sort of reports did they leave behind?"

"Weird ones: doors that flew open and then slammed shut, even though they'd been locked; creaking boards where no one had stepped. One guy even reported that he'd heard music from the 1920s playing here, and a surveyor bolted out of the boiler room when he saw someone in one the basements when he was inspecting a lower level furnace. But the one thing that was on _every_ report – the one constant thing reported – was that there was always a girl singing."

"Singing?" Rezo frowned. "Did they ever report what the song was?"

"Yeah, they did," said Lina, wearing a frown as well. She'd forgotten this up until this point. _'I should've realized what this building was when I heard that song.'_ "It was _White Saillune._"

**…**

Just as he'd suspected, she was asleep on one of the couches in his library, long blonde hair cascading over the pillows and down the side. As Xellos drew nearer, he could make out the obviously feminine form sprawled out, a book having fallen from her hands and now lying on the floor.

How was he going to wake her? He wanted to do it differently this time. After all, this was a special occasion. Special occasions called for special measures, and he was already starting to have such a nice day. Why not make it even more pleasant?

Her knelt next to her slumbering form, setting his staff aside as he pulled one glove off.

"Filia, dear," he cooed into her ear, smiling broadly as he stroked a bare finger across her cheek.

"Mmmm…" she responded in her slumber, a faint content smile playing on her lips. Xellos leaned in a little closer, his face barely an inch away from hers.

"Filia…"

A set of cornflower blue eyes flitted open, their gaze fixated in a sleepy wonderment at the purple-haired person hovering just over her.

When she finally realized just who it was she let out a wild shriek. Xellos found himself catapulted over the coffee table and into the bookcase across the room. With a slight moan, he fell face-first into the plush plum carpeting.

Filia Ul Copt, the only Knight in the Order of Ceipheid who had worn a skirt as part of her uniform, glared down at the crumpled trickster lying in shambles, her mace held at the ready to give him another good whack. With a snort she stood up, slipping her weapon back into place on her garter.

"It serves you right, you piece of filth," she huffed, straightening out the creases in her pink civilian dress. "Taking advantage of a defenseless woman in her sleep is just the sort of thing I'd expect you monsters to do."

"You're hardly defenseless, Fillia my dear," Xellos said, pulling his face out of the carpet. What he said was true enough; even though he'd sealed away most of her magic abilities, he'd allowed her to keep her beloved mace, and she still had brute strength atop of that. The only way you'd know she wasn't human was the fact that her tail had a tendency to pop out whenever she was irritated. Now was a very good example – he could see the golden appendage swinging lowly in irritation, the pink bow at the end flitting about.

"Oh, quit complaining; you enjoy every ounce of pain you get, you rotten masochist."

"Oh, a _masochist_, am I?" Xellos' eyebrow twitched. "Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that you referred to me as a _sadist_?" He phased out and wound up right behind her. "I take it that means you classify me as a _sadomasochist_?"

A vein popped out over her head and once again, the mace went flying –

Only this time Xellos caught her by the wrist, causing Filia to let out a shocked gasp. He opened his eyes and gave her long, calculating gaze.

"As much as I enjoy our little spats, I'm afraid we haven't the time for frivolities," he said, releasing her from his grip and grabbing his staff, which had fallen across the coffee table.

"Oh, so all I'm good for is an afternoon sna – wait, what do you mean 'we'?" The Ceipheid Knight glared at him suspiciously. "What's going on here?"

"What indeed?" Xellos gave her his signature grin, walked over to a particularly dusty bookcase, and began scanning the row of spines before selecting one at chest height. "That is what I've come to find out. While my suspicions have led me to believe that something is about to happen, I thought it best to do some research before I make a move."

Filia walked over to where he stood and peered around to glance at the book he was flipping through. Upon recognizing the watermark on the pages, she let out a startled gasp.

"You can't look through that! That's the Saillune Order's _directory_!"

"A directory to an Order which no longer exists," Xellos said casually. "Ah, here it is… _I_… The remaining vestiges of our age-old battle have long since become legend. I doubt there are any _true_ Knights of Ceipheid or servants of Shabranigdo left these days."

Filia took a step back, downcast. She knew Xellos wasn't lying – as far as they knew, they were the only holdouts.

"There's a little redhead wondering about the complex," the purple-headed monster said after a moment, snapping Filia's attention up abruptly. "I found her quite interesting, so I decided to engage her in a little game."

The golden dragoness was hesitant to ask, but the need for answers overrode her caution. "And just what is this 'game' that you're engaged in?"

"Oh, I think you know very well what game it is, Filia, dear," Xellos replied, running his finger along the lines the page he'd just flipped to. "This particular one has been on standby for well over a century now, I believe."

Filia's eyes widened. "So, that means you're –"

"Yes." He turned and gave her an evil grin, one opened eye twinkling at her, before turning back to the book. "Inverse… Inverse… oh, yes, _here_ we are." His grin widened. "Well, well. What have we here? It appears Miss Jiima and I were correction in our assumptions after all."

"You mean that that girl who's been wandering around the complex is…?" Filia's voice trailed off.

"It appears that she and I got bored at a very, very convenient time." Xellos cackled and grinned broadly into the book. "Yes, the rain brings in very interesting visitors _indeed_." He snapped the book shut and hid it in the folds of his cloak before turning once more to face the blonde dragoness.

"I have a few things I have to do before we can act," he said, both eyes now opened and glittering mischievously. "I would recommend, Filia dear, that you begin looking for that Dark Star weapon Miss Jiima left in your possession."

Without waiting for a response, he vanished.

**…**

"So this girl's the one the Red Priest has been waiting for, huh?" asked the hulking figure just behind the High Priestess.

"It is as Lord Rezo said: the resemblance she bears to both the original and the Keeper of the Text is uncanny, and she fulfills the requirements of the prophecy," Eris said, staring at the image of the girl and their leader in a tiny glowing crystal.

"A prophecy is a foretelling of the future made by gods or their high-level servants," the other woman said from behind an embroidered fan. "What that little whelp of a Ceipheid Knight came up with was little better than a weather prediction. There was nothing special about it."

"If I may be so bold as to interrupt, it is there that I believe you are wrong, Lady Gioconda," said one of the hooded men to Eris' left. "That whelp you speak of was beyond a mere Ceipheid Knight."

The woman identified as Gioconda snapped her fan shut and glared in the man's direction. "Do you question my judgment? That little brat was nothing more than a nuisance. She wasn't worth all the bother! It's taken us over a century to find the perfect sacrifice and now –"

"Be silent!" Eris commanded, silencing the older woman's tirade. Casting a cold copper glance to those in the room, the High Priestess allowed the image in the crystal to fade. "The incident concerning the Knight Landis is no longer the issue, nor is whether any of you believe her prediction to be true. The facts have been laid out for all to see, and time to act is upon us; we have none to waste on petty quarreling."

"And supposing we are once again mistaken?" inquired the other hooded man, his voice raspy from lack of use. "Can we be so certain that this is the one?"

Eris' eyes narrowed. "You _dare_ question the judgment of the Red Priest?"

"It isn't a question of judgment," a deep voice said coldly from behind Gioconda. "It's a question of whether we have it right this time or not. We've waited for over a century now; one more mistake could lead to –" he lifted one hand and flexed long, sharp-bladed fingers "– dire consequences."

The High Priestess ground her teeth together. "Why you –"

"Now, now; is this any way to get things done? Why don't we all just agree to disagree?" a new voice chided. The cultists turned to find the familiar figure adorned in priest's attire stepping forth from the darkness surrounding them, his staff making light clacking noises as it hit the floor. "Dissention in the ranks often leads to disconcertion, and I'm afraid Lord Rezo would be most displeased if such a thing were to occur."

"Xellos! Where have you been?" Eris demanded. "I thought you were supposed to be taking care of things."

"Ah, yes, that was what I was told," Xellos replied cheerfully with a grin. "However, I'm afraid your definition of 'getting things done' and mine may differ slightly. The orders I've been given are strictly confidential."

"In other words you're slacking," Gioconda said accusingly. She turned and looked over Eris. "If you want my personal opinion, I think he spends far too much time with that pet dragon of his. The Red Priest ought to consider confiscating it."

"Or better yet, ask him to share," chuckled the creature behind Eris.

Xellos snapped opened his eyes and fixated them on the figure, causing it to gasp and choke, falling to the ground. Eris turned to find the subordinate trying desperately to breathe. Uttering a curse, she rounded back on Xellos, who now looked at her in cold anger.

"That was out of line," she said sharply.

"Quite the contrary; I was merely reminding Mr. Dilgear of his manners. It would seem that even the servants of Shabranigdo have misplaced them," Xellos countered, his tone warning of further punishment should any disagree with him.

"Did you come to deliver us any orders?" she asked, the voice of authority laced with caution. One of the great many things the past century had taught the High Priestess Eris was that challenging Xellos did not yield pleasant results.

"But of course," replied Xellos, his voice now returning to its normal pleasantness. "Stick to the original plan and be ready to act in any event. In the meantime, carry on about your business until the signal is given. That is all."

He swept a low bow and phased away, leaving the cultists in an uneasy silence.

**…**

"Now, where did she go off to?" Xellos mused to himself as he walked along a corridor somewhere on the fourth floor, his boots making soft thuds in rhythm to the occasional _tap_ of his staff. "Hmm…" he stopped and frowned. This was the last placed he'd sensed the sprite; she still ought to have been around somewhere. "Odd…"

He didn't have much further to go, for as soon as he'd spoken he felt an unshakably familiar presence phase in just behind him. The next thing he heard was a loud _crack_, succeeded by a sharp pain on the top of his skull.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't the Purple Priest of Pandemonium himself!" Jiima cackled, twirling her thin silvery staff before resting it on her shoulder, the mystic jewel set upon the fiery wings of a sculpted phoenix on the end glistening dully in the dim artificial lighting. "Long time, no see."

"I'm pleased to see that you're doing well as always, Miss Jiima," said Xellos, a hint of irritation gracing his voice as he rubbed his head. This little game and being assaulted by two inhuman women in one day – the Controller of Destinies must have been in an uncharacteristically benevolent mood. "While I _am_ grateful for the gesture, would you care to explain what I did to deserve such an intimate greeting?"

"Intimate greeting_?_" Jiima snorted. "Don't read too much into it. I didn't get a chance to do it last month, so I decided to get the better of you just now. Consider it my way of apologizing."

"How thoughtful." Xellos cracked an eye opened and looked at her suspiciously as he adjusted his cloak. "Why exactly _were_ you away last month, anyway? I thought the Pact prohibited you from leaving Saillune."

"It _does_," Jiima said irritably. "I couldn't make it last month because… well, let's just say that there was a sudden upset."

"Oh?" The Mazoku raised an eyebrow in curiosity. While Jiima had a tendency to irk him, he was nevertheless intrigued. Being trapped by the Pact put him in the dark in regards to current events; Jiima was essentially his only connection to the outside – an arrangement he found less than appealing.

"Apparently the higher-ups in the archaeology department at Sairaag University decided to host a dig in the Frozen North again," she explained. "Things were bad enough when it was all just talk, but they've already started breaking ground and Dynast Grausherra's furious. Lord Beastmaster's already offered her assistance, but right now we're on a watch-and-wait basis until we have a better idea of what it is they're looking for. From what I've heard, Dynast has Sherra on guard duty while impersonating some anthropologist from Zephilia."

"How is Sherra handling _that_?" Xellos inquired, smirking evilly. Dynast Grausherra's General as an anthropologist came across as _highly_ amusing.

"Not very well from what my understanding is," Jiima replied, returning the smirk. "But what Dynast commands, Sherra complies to. Either that or she winds up in a whirlwind of trouble. I don't think _that'll_ be too much of an issue, considering that we're right back to having to protect that blasted underground citadel Lei Magnus is confined in. Lord Beastmaster donated three packs of her special arctic wolves and dispatched a few agents just for the occasion."

Xellos churned the information in his mind, the smirk steadily contorting into a rather nasty look of indignation and anger. Oh, how he _loathed_ being confined in this damned complex! One hundred years of waiting and all the while the world turned in turmoil without him to stoke the fires.

Jiima caught the look on his face and frowned. "Look, Xellos, I know what you're thinking. You hate being trapped just as much as the rest of us. I'd like to be out there too, you know. You think Sherra playing an anthropologist is funny? My father has Charon and Sycorax posing as archaeologists from Ruvinagald and Elmekia, for Ceiphied's sake!"

Xellos frowned. "Your father? What is he –?"

"Never mind that," Jiima interrupted. "The point I'm trying to make is that we're all in the same boat, and there wasn't anything we could have done at the time to prevent all this. After the last report I gave, Lord Beastmaster stated that we were to remain at the status quo until the Pact Breaker emerges." She allowed a catlike grin to spread on her impish face. "And judging by recent events, I take it she's arrived?"

Xellos relaxed a little, watching her with a steady, closed-eyes gaze. It was a rhetorical question, as both knew the significance of the girl currently wondering the second level of Building 6 of the derelict industrial complex, but he felt compelled to answer nevertheless:

"It would appear so. She's quite tenacious, and she's broken through the safeties you set up."

"Got a name?"

"Why yes. Of course," Xellos replied, opening his eyes, which now glittered with insane pleasure. "Her name is Lina Inverse."

"Inverse, huh?" Jiima's grin spread into a practically maniacal smile. "Well, it looks like I was right after all. I wasn't so sure, given the older sister, but this one definitely fits the bill: 'Her hair will be like untamed fire, and her eyes like crimson flames.' The resemblance is uncanny."

"Her bloodline confirms your prediction," Xellos said, conjuring up the book he'd peered into earlier and handing it to the sprite. "Descended from her mother's side."

"Hey, didn't this belong to the Saillune branch of the Order of Ceipheid?" She gave him a reproachful look before opening to where the page had been marked.

"Does it really matter? At least the Order was useful for a change." He smirked as he watched her scan the pages' contents.

A ghost of a memory flitted into his mind, rewinding him back to the day they'd met in the Order's hidden library at Saillune University. She'd stood much the same way back then as she did now: hair let down, staff leaning up against her, her eyes trained on the page…

"Excellent," Jiima breathed, snapping him from his reverie. Her electric blue eyes were practically dancing. "Now we can finally put an end to all this insanity."

"So it would seem." Xellos took back the book and casually morphed it away. "However, there is _one_ concern I have."

"And that would be…?" Jiima prompted.

"I may be incorrect in my assumption but, from what I have seen thus far, it would appear that Miss Lina possesses no magical abilities."

The look on her face was incredulous. "Are you kidding me?"

Xellos shook his head. "As I said before, I may be incorrect; however, I have not yet seen her produce even so much as a Lighting orb."

Jiima felt her hypothetical heart sink. "What good is a Pact Breaker who can't use magic unless – _wait_! You said that you haven't _seen_ anything indicative of her possessing magical abilities?"

Xellos nodded.

Jiima wrinkled her nose in thought. Xellos might not have _seen_ anything, but that alone wasn't enough evidence. In their pact agreement, he'd had been forced to give up his ability to sense a stranger's magic capacity. The only ones with that ability now were the Red Priest and…

"Damn it. I _knew_ I should've run an Astral Reading on her when I had the chance!" Jiima clenched her staff angrily. "Stupid Rezo, butting in like that… Hey, what was _he_ doing out, anyway?" She looked at the Mazoku suspiciously.

At this, Xellos gave her his usual cryptic smile in response. No words were needed to convey his message – this was the very thing they'd been anticipating for quite a while now.

Jiima's understanding was revealed in the hard edge he hadn't seen in over a century finally returning to her eyes.

"It looks like we've got some serious recruitment work to do here," she said, her voice equally as serious as her gaze. "The Dark Star weapons I already took care of sixty years ago; I've got Galveira somewhere, and you and I both know where Ragud Mazegis, Bodigar, and Gorun Nova went to. And, before you ask, I know _exactly_ where Nezard is, and it isn't anywhere those cult members would ever guess. As for the _other_ 'resources'…" she looked off to the side, speaking as though in though, "Zelgadis and Pokota I can handle, but Valgaav's another story. We've already got Filia in the loop, but I still have to see if I can locate Ozzel…"

Xellos quirked an eyebrow at the last name. "Why Miss Ozzel?"

Jiima jolted, apparently having forgotten that he was there. "I promised her I'd bring her back. Ozzel's the only person I can really trust at the moment."

Xellos felt a bit insulted by that comment. "Oh, Miss Jiima, does that mean you don't trust _me_?"

Jiima looked at the almost pleading monster and frowned. "_Trust_, Xellos? Trusting you with something important to the existence in and of this world would be the equivalent of trusting Hellmaster Phibrizzo with the atomic bomb."

"Ah, but you _did_ entrust me with something to that respect!" he pointed out brightly. "You can hardly say a life is unimportant, now can you?"

"Yeah, but _you_ didn't get a Dark Star weapon, now _did_ you?" Jiima shot back. "I'm not _entirely_ stupid. Don't forget, Xellos, that I'm really taking a risk in even _being_ here."

"So why is it that you ever agreed in the first place?" he inquired, cracking an eye open to look at her. "Surely you must have had some kind of rationale when you agreed to the terms of the contracts."

Jiima huffed and folded her arms indignantly. "You're Zelas Metallium's General-Priest and Filia is a Knight of Ceipheid._ Somebody_ had to keep an eye on the two of you. I supposed that person may as well have been me."

"Is that so?" The trickster priest grinned. "Well, I suppose having Miss Ozzel would work to our benefit, seeing as the Red Priest deactivated her shortly after the incident. In that case, I suppose I shall have to handle Valgaav personally."

"You might want to have Mimsy close by when you do," Jiima suggested with smirk. "He won't give much argument with that niece of yours around."

"Yes, yes; you're right about that." The Mazoku priest chuckled. "Very well, then. I suggest we begin recruitment as soon as the Red Priest makes his move."

"Why wait for _him_ to make the first move?" Jiima demanded. "We can't just let him gain the upper hand Xellos. If what we thought is true, then we –"

"In any game, no matter the stakes, it is important to anticipate your opponent's move and wait for him to execute it," Xellos interrupted, holding up a finger and placing it firmly against her lips to stifle any further comment. "While I am just as anxious to be released from the confines of this prison as any of us here, I am in no hurry to watch our plans go to waste. We've waited _this_ long for the Pact Breaker to appear – reserving time for further observations could hardly do us any harm."

Jiima hated to admit it, but Xellos was, as usual, right. If they wanted to get out of this alive, they were going to have to do it very, very carefully.

She really hated waiting, especially when it came to matters involving the Red Priest. When it came to Rezo Greywers, one wrong move could throw the entire game out of bounds and into his court.

_That_ was the number one thing they were trying to avoid.


	7. Intruders

**Chapter 7: Intruders**

"Alright, Luna, Martina!" Beth Hanson called from her place over the grill. "You two can take a break now. Twenty-five minutes, so go get some lunch while you're at it."

"But it's the noon rush!" Martina protested as her tray was whisked away from her by one of the junior waitresses.

"No 'buts'!" Beth snapped as the flames shot up from the grill to her left. "Amy, for heaven's sake, would you _not_ burn that Elmekian sausage? Just take the break, Martina! You're working double-shifts today, so you'll have plenty of work when everyone starts heading home this evening! Damn it, Henry, Mr. Valazard does _not_ like it medium rare!"

Luna rolled her eyes as she handed her own tray over to one particularly gangly waiter and briskly walked out the side door, followed by a slightly putout Martina. She didn't show it like her friend, but Luna was disappointed as well. The extra money always came in handy, especially considering Lina's voracious appetite. Tips were what made a waitress's life – everyone knew that.

Unfortunately, all the tips in the world would not make up for the massive drain in energy when the rushes came. Noon rush was bad enough, but the go-home rush was always the kicker. People running in to grab a bite meant more money all-around, but the influx of people who liked sitting in a little diner at the end of the day doing work while sipping soda and the students who took advantage of the free wireless internet Merle's provided was the real gold mine. Luna could understand why their midday shift manger wanted them to take a break now. _That_ was why she hadn't argued.

"Pulling a double-shift is a real drag," Martina whined as she ungraciously fell onto the bench seat placed to one side of the picnic table near the restaurant. "Why did Helmina choose _now_ of all times to finally get sick?"

"She didn't _choose_ to get sick, Martina," Luna pointed out as she pulled her cell phone from her apron pocket. "A person doesn't just ask to get botulism – it just happens."

"Botulism?" Martina's ice blue eyes widened in sudden horror. "Oh, that's so disgusting! How on _Earth_ did she manage to have something like _that_ happen to her?"

"Apparently Aramis decided it was a good idea to catch a quick bite to eat at some new hotdog stand before taking her to see a movie," Luna replied as she scrolled down the security settings on her phone. "_He_ came out perfectly fine, apparently. _Helmina,_ on the other hand, was sick all of last night and had to call in this morning."

"That boyfriend of hers must have a cast-iron stomach," Martina snorted. "I certainly hope Helmina will be all right by this evening."

"If she isn't, I'm dragging her to the hospital." Luna pressed her lips together as she hit the "send" button on her cell and put it up to her ear.

"Who are you calling?"

"I'm making sure Lina actually went to school today. I've got the Caller ID blocked just to see if she answers. Once I'm satisfied, I'll call Helmina."

"While you're doing that, I'll go pick up something at the deli two doors over." Martina rose and slung her purse over her shoulder.

"It had better not be another meatball sub," Luna warned, amethyst eyes looking at the other woman narrowly from under her bangs.

"Don't worry, it won't be," Martina assured her nervously and quickly dashed off from her companion's sharpened gaze. The last time she'd made the mistake of getting Luna a meatball sub from that _particular_ deli was an incident permanently engraved in her mind, and thankfully not by that cleaver Luna had been holding at the time.

Luna leaned on one elbow on the table, listening as the answering machine picked up:

"_Hello. You have reached the number of Luna –"_

"_And Lina!"_

"– _Inverse. Please leave your name, number, and a message, and we'll get back with you soon. Thank you." _

BEEP!

She waited for a few moments, careful to breathe ever so lightly so as not to make a sound. Lina hated it when people did that on the answering machine. Luna had caught her younger sister skipping school several times so far with this little trick, and each occurrence had taken place at difference times during the day. Lina could never predict it, and with the Caller ID turned off the only way to find out who was on the other end was if she picked up the phone.

Well over a minute passed before Luna finally hung up with her lips pressed together. Lina obviously wasn't at home, but this hardly gave the waitress the satisfaction she desired. She quickly dialed her sister's cell phone and waited for the precocious redhead to pick up. Lina loved answering anonymous phone calls – the trick never failed.

Except in this instance; after five rings, her call went directly into Lina's voicemail.

"_Hiya! This is Lina Inverse! I'm not here at the moment, but if you could –"_

Luna immediately ended the call before the recording could finish.

She frowned down at her cell phone for a moment, not quite certain what to think. Either Lina was ignoring the call or the phone was off – neither of which sounded like something her careless younger sister would do. Lina always at least had the blasted thing on vibrate during classes.

'_You'd better have gone to school today, Lina.'_

Repeating the demand once more in her head, Luna went through the security settings to set her Caller ID back to normal before calling Helmina.

**…**

Not even eight minutes after Luna's test call, the phone in the apartment rang for a fourth time that day.

"_Hello. You have reached the number of Luna –"_

"_And Lina!"_

"– _Inverse. Please leave your name, number, and a message, and we'll get back with you soon. Thank you." _

BEEP!

"_Hello. This is an automated message from the Saillune County School System. Student __**Lina Inverse**__, attending __**Saillune High School**__, was recorded as absent for the following classes: __**English IV Honors, Algebra II Honors, History of the Outer Territories III Honors**__. Thank you."_

**…**

"The song was always _White Saillune_?" Rezo asked curiously.

"Yeah, at least that's what I've heard," Lina confirmed, leaning back a little and frowning. "There were a few occasions where they heard music playing, but there was always that song and they always heard a girl singing it."

The realization that she'd heard that very song hadn't settled well with the flame-haired teen. Xellos had gotten her so wound up about everything that she'd overlooked all the details that would have confirmed her thoughts before.

Speaking of Xellos…

"Say, how do you know Xellos?" she asked conversationally. "Is he your business partner?"

"Not exactly," Rezo replied with a bit of a chuckle. "Xellos Metallium is what you might call my personal assistant – he handles most of my affairs and is my connection to everything going on. In a way, he acts as my eyes, having the ability to judge things when I cannot."

Lina frowned a little bit. Were they talking about the same Xellos as the one she'd made that deal with? "Is he a practical joker?"

Rezo gave her question a little consideration. "Yes, as a matter of fact he is. He tends to bore easily, so he often engages in little games to amuse himself. A bit childish perhaps, but provided it doesn't interfere with our work, I have no complaints."

Lina nodded to herself in thought. Rezo probably knew Xellos, but might not have known just what his personal assistant was up to. "What about someone named Eris?"

"Erisiel Vrumugun?" Rezo raised his eyebrows in evident surprise. "Why, she's my personal secretary. Next to Xellos, she's my constant companion. She acts as my eyes when I send Xellos off on assignments."

A loud crack of thunder accompanied by a piercing bolt of lightning came forth ominously, seeming to remind those within the complex of the storm's continued presence.

"Jeez, talk about your wild weather," Lina joked with a nervous laugh. It was a futile attempt to calm her ringing nerves: she couldn't believe that the two she'd come across were connected to Rezo Greywers. They were too weird. Rezo was just… well… _nice_. He was pleasant to talk to and he sure didn't come across as being malicious, at least not what she could tell just by talking to him.

So what was with that little Chibi Lina in the back of her mind screaming that something was off about this guy?

"If you don't mind my asking, Miss Lina, could you tell me why you chose to seek refuge from the storm in here of all places?" Rezo inquired. "Not to be presumptuous, but seeing as today is Wednesday, should you not be in school?"

Lina faltered a bit, suddenly embarrassed by her predicament.

"No particular reason," she said after a moment's silence, shoving aside the Chibi in her mind.

Unfortunately, Rezo wasn't the type to simply drop the subject.

"Oh, come now," he insisted gently, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin upon them, elbows on his knees and his cane laid across his lap. "I'm most curious to know how a charming young lady such as yourself ended up in this crumbling old building."

Lina only just managed to beat down the heat threatening to crawl over her face at that moment and swallowed before she trusted herself to answer.

"The truth is… well… actually, I just wanted to get out," she admitted sheepishly. She told him about her friends at school and how at times she felt that they and the subjects at school could be total bores. She told him how her mother had passed away, and how Luna continuously drove her further in her studies, never mind the older girl had set aside her own personal ambitions in order support the both of them.

It was a long and involved spiel, but Rezo proved to be a good audience. He nodded in all the right places, making interjections and posing a few questions in-between. Lina hadn't the faintest idea how long it took her, but she found it relieving to simply talk about all the things she'd been certain to keep to herself. She didn't understand what it was about Rezo that made her so at ease, but she really appreciated his company.

"After that, it started to rain, so I ducked down an alleyway and tried a whole bunch of doors," she explained, at long last coming to her current situation. "I didn't think much about this place until I saw this little girl dart into one room. I couldn't find her, but there was this noise and loud cackling. That's when I met this guy and he told me his name was Xellos Metallium."

Rezo's eyebrows furrowed in thought. "That noise you heard must have been when I bumped into one of the barrels up here earlier."

Lina shook her head. "No, it sounded more like a door slamming than a barrel falling."

At this statement, the older man's face fell. "Then it must have been something else, then." A small wave of sadness seemed to pass over his features, but disappeared just as quickly as it came. "That cackling, however, was most assuredly from Xellos. He must have found something to his amusement again."

Lina could barely suppress her laughter at the man's exasperated tone. "I take it his sense of humor isn't anything you really understand, huh?"

"Frankly, no," he chuckled. "Not in the least."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one, because his sense of humor sure is warped." Lina folded her arms in slight irritation. "He's the one who got me into this mess by asking me if I'd play a little game with him. I don't know how the heck he did it, but he got me all turned around and now I can't find the exit."

"Wouldn't it be easier to find the exit on the ground floor? This is the second floor that we're on."

"That's what I thought, but I went and looked all over the ground floor and all I found were a bunch of rooms, windows, and walls."

"Couldn't you have just as easily left through a window?"

"Not exactly," Lina muttered lowly enough that Rezo was barely able to catch what she said. "But I'm not particularly worried about that at the moment – if anything, I'm more concerned about _you_. You said you came here to survey this old complex. Was it just you and Xellos, or was there anyone else?"

"Xellos arrived here before Eris and I had," he said. "I wanted to make sure we didn't get lost or run into any problems, so I had him get acquainted with the building before we did anything further."

"He mentioned something about watching this place…"

"Yes, quite like a caretaker; it was an assignment that he seemed to be rather taken with." Rezo chuckled. Then his face settled into what looked like whimsical contemplation. "You mentioned seeing a little girl. That may very well have been Xellos' niece. He sometimes lets her tag along, seeing as he's her only family. Her parents died quite some time ago, so he adopted her."

Lina tilted her head a little and felt herself smile, not so much at the idea of Xellos having a niece (actually, _that_ train of thought made her want to cringe), but at Rezo's expression. The more she talked to him, the more she liked the guy, despite the Chibi Lina in her mind that was stomping and making a ruckus for no apparent reason. It wasn't very natural for her to be so trusting, but Rezo seemed to have that effect on her.

It was almost like having her mom sitting there with her.

"Do _you_ have any family?"

The question was harmless enough, but the effect it appeared to have on the blind man was nothing less than startling; his face fell as though he'd suddenly come across a memory long ago buried in the darkened recesses of his mind. His composure faltered, and he looked almost… _older_.

"Yes," he answered after a moment's silence. "My great-grandson."

Lina let out a startled gasp and blurted, "Your _great_-grandson? But you're so _young_!"

Rezo chuckled bitterly. "Not everything is as it seems, Miss Lina. I am actually much older than I look." He sighed heavily and shook his head. "Unlike Xellos, who is actually much closer to his young niece than he outwardly appears, I am not an important part in the life of the one I raised from a child."

"Why would he want to be so callus?" Lina inquired, suddenly feeling very irate towards this unknown great-grandson. Honestly, didn't people appreciate the value of family these days?

"Long ago we had a dispute, and since then he has rejected any attempts I have made at rekindling our bond." Rezo smiled wanly. "I suppose I can't blame him, although I do still long for those simple days of the past."

Lina frowned, and silently thought to herself that if she ever got a hold on this great-grandson of Rezo's, she'd knock some sense into him. She and Luna had gotten into all sorts of arguments, and there had been several occasions when Zangulus and Jake had to drag her back home in the middle of the night when she'd tried to run away from home, but despite all their problems, she could never remain angry at Luna for very long. Their mother's death had left a deep impact on the both of them; if anything, they'd become closer, even with Luna's continually worsening authoritarian run of things.

She made to open her mouth, but this action was suddenly interrupted by a loud sneeze, followed a shout and an unmistakable crash somewhere in the nearby corridor.

"What the –?" Lina scrambled to her feet, grabbing her pipe as she dashed in the direction of the disturbance.

"Wait! I'm coming with you!" Lina looked over her shoulder to find Rezo dashing to catch up to her, his white walking stick clutched firmly in one hand. As if sensing the unasked question, he quickly answered, "Don't worry; I can follow you by the sound of your footsteps."

**…**

Jiima frowned. _'Did I get the wrong storeroom?'_

Along the walls were shelves of knickknacks and other odds-and-ends, the kinds of things one would associate more with a curio shop than a magician's storeroom. The room itself was a maze of stacked boxes, the kind that would make the average curious person dizzy before they found their way back out.

This _definitely_ couldn't be the right room.

"Man!" she groaned, lightly slamming an elbow into one stack of boxes. "This is the _fifteenth_ storeroom I've been in so far, and I _still_ can't find Ozzel! I could've _sworn_ I hid her in this building!" She looked around in frustration. "Jeez… how many storerooms does this stupid building _have_, anyway?"

With an irritated sigh, she straightened up from the set of boxes she'd been leaning against. On a notion, she hazarded a peek at her backside, and let out a groan upon finding her clothing covered in age-old dust.

"Oh, great, _more_ good news. I didn't agree to all this just so I could get my favorite outfit dirty," she informed the offensive dust with a scowl, and promptly removed it all with a flick of her finger.

Unfortunately for Jiima, her little cleaning attempt proved to be miscalculated, a fact heavily illustrated as the massive cloud of dust flew upward and into her face. The century-old particles filtered into her nose, and it was with one almighty sneeze that the girl found herself losing her balance and falling backwards into another stack of boxes, sending the carefully constructed rows down with her.

Three massive sneezes later, Jiima managed to cover her nose and mouth with a hastily conjured handkerchief and blinked watering eyes behind dust-covered lenses. Taking one end of the handkerchief, she wiped her glasses off and stared at the enormous mess surrounding her.

A majority of the fallen boxes had burst open on impact, spilling tubes, vials, stuffed animals, and, for some unfathomable reason, a rubber chicken.

She picked up the latter item and shook her head in distaste.

"That gag is _so_ overrated," she said, chucking the chicken over her shoulder and heaving herself to her feet in order to better survey the wreckage. It wasn't much better standing up. "Damn… me and my allergies."

"Over here!" She heard the familiar voice of the redhead named Lina heading in her direction. Not too far behind her was another set, one that sounded like they belonged to someone larger and possibly older.

Smacking herself on the forehead and cursing her own carelessness, Jiima promptly phased out of the room.

**…**

The two darted down the corridor, and found one door left open ajar, boxed having fallen out from it.

A rubber chicken suddenly went flying out from the room.

Lina slowed down and looked into the room, casting a puzzled glance over to the flung joke item. Rezo quickly followed suit, only he accidentally bumped into the redhead, causing her to stumble.

"I'm terribly sorry about that," he said, grabbing her arm to steady her. "I miscalculated."

"No problem." She poked her head into the room, astonished at the utter chaos she found. "Is anyone in there?"

No one answered her call.

"This room is real mess," she commented, stepping lightly over the fallen boxes that crowded the doorway. "I wonder what happened in here."

Rezo gently tapped the side of the doorframe with his walking stick and frowned.

"This is one of the storerooms," he muttered to himself, eyebrows cinched together. "But why…?"

"You say something?" Lina looked over her shoulder. Rezo shook his head.

"Nothing of any consequence. I was just thinking aloud." He frowned once more and clasped both hands over his walking stick. "I don't think this mess was caused by either Xellos or Eris."

"You said that Xellos probably brought his niece along. Do you think…?"

Rezo shook his head firmly. "Mimsy knows better than to get into trouble by knocking things over. She's a very responsible child, not at all the type destroy things." His features darkened considerably, causing Lina to tense up. "Meaning that there must have been an intruder."

"Intruder?" Lina hopped back into the corridor and looked at him quizzically. "But how can anyone get in if I can't get out?"

"That's a very good question…" He considered her point for a moment and twirled his walking stick absentmindedly as he did so. "Perhaps it would be best if we –"

There was a loud shriek, which interrupted the steady rhythm of the grinding gears. Lina let out a yelp and Rezo gave a slight start, both turning their heads in the direction of the noise.

"That's it, I'm calling Luna," Lina announced, pulling her cell phone out from the pocket of her faded red jeans. She immediately flipped the top, intent on speed dialing her older sister.

The cell phone's display was blank. Just like the CD player, its battery had died.


	8. Mishaps and Suspicions

**Chapter 8: Mishaps and Suspicions**

The loud shriek echoed down the corridors, the shrill sound threatening to shatter the eardrums of anyone nearby.

Zelgadis cringed visibly, and had to cover his ears to muffle the sound. He ground his teeth together in pain and irritation.

"There's the factory whistle." Pokota looked nervously to his left. "Do you think that was the signal?"

Zelgadis merely nodded, looking down at the left-hand corridor from his position on the catwalk, the ringing in his overly sensitive ears only now beginning to subside.

"Are you _sure_ you want to be doing this, Zelgadis?"

"Do I have a choice?" he returned sullenly, his tone of voice indicating no desire to speak.

Pokota frowned in concern. "I've been pretty patient up to this point; don't you think you should at least tell me _something_ about whatever-it-is that's going on here?"

"Follow instructions and keep your head down," Zelgadis replied monotonously. "Don't ask too many questions, and keep your nose out of where it doesn't belong. If you do this, they'll leave you alone. Understand?" He cast an icy glance over to Pokota, who merely stared at him, wide-eyed and stunned.

Zelgadis expected Pokota to press him further; thankfully, his stuffed companion took the hint, and for that the ivory-clad man was grateful. He didn't trust himself to talk any further at the moment. It was hard enough maintaining his sanity without Pokota asking too many questions.

**…**

'_Have they no patience?'_ he thought exasperatedly, having overcome the initial shock of hearing the whistle.

"Oh, you've got to be _kidding me!_" Lina wailed, looking at the now useless communication device in stark horror. She looked over to Rezo, silently pleading to whatever god or demon lord who was listening. "_Please_ tell me you have a cell phone. Some kind of two-way radio. Anything we can use to contact someone on the outside!"

An oddly puzzled look threatened to overtake the man's face at the mention of a cell phone, but it was quickly overtaken by solemnity. "I'm afraid I have nothing. Any method to contact the outside I sadly left with Xellos. He is more at home with such things than I am."

Lina let out a groan. Could things possibly get any worse?

As if in answer to her mental question, a loud growling filled the hall, causing Rezo to let out a loud gasp.

"What demon is _that_?" he demanded, gripping his walking staff, his face a display of sudden intensity.

Lina chuckled evilly at the analogy. "The worst type of demon ever – _hunger_." She pulled her backpack around and proceeded to rummage through the pockets. "It must be close to lunchtime. Here, catch."

The sound of something sailing in his direction prompted the startled man to catch whatever she'd thrown at him. Long fingers gently passed over the metallic wrapping, and the redhead grinned at the look of confusion that had crossed over the older man's face.

"It's a candy bar," she explained, peeling the wrapper from her own snack. "Sorry it isn't anything better. Normally I wouldn't share, but something tells me you need to eat, too."

Rezo frowned quizzically in the direction of the girl's voice, but could hardly argue with her. Instead, he slowly pulled away the wrapping despite not being the least bit interested in whatever packaged food item a "candy bar" was. The only thing it was good for was giving him a reason to think, and anything to give him a chance to do _that_ was more than welcome at the moment.

**…**

As if knocking over the boxes in the last storeroom wasn't enough, Jiima's mortification was almost completed when she phased into a third floor break room at the exact same moment the whistle blew.

She let out an almighty shriek, the noise all too close for comfort. On a whole, loud noises never really bothered her, especially since she was usually the instigator for random explosions and the like, but in a factory that had been silent for so long, sudden piercing shrieks did nothing for a person already close to being on the edge.

Suddenly having a gloved hand clamp over her mouth and someone's staff arm wrap around her arms and waist wasn't very comforting, either.

"Aren't we making a bit too much noise for a covert operation?" a familiar voice breathed into her ear, the cool breath and unmistakable aura making her own breath hitch and her body freeze. Electric blue eyes slid to the right, noticing the familiar strands of purple hair coming into view. "Forgive me for making presumptions, but I should think that one raised under Thanatos the Forgotten would have a better grasp of her reactions."

It took everything in her will not to bite down on the hand over her mouth, but Jiima had learned from previous experiences that no matter what his outward reaction, Xellos personally enjoyed every bit of pain inflicted upon him.

"Drop dead, Xellos. I'm busy," she responded, but the fabric of his glove muffled this statement.

Xellos smirked and brought her closer against him, the smirk growing as he felt her tension increase.

"Are you, now?" he whispered softly. "With all this random flitting about you've been doing, I was hoping that you'd found some time to share with me. It appears that Filia rarely does, if ever."

"Gee, I wonder why?" Jiima shot back as his hand slipped away from her mouth, allowing her the chance to give a proper retort. "Maybe it's my imagination, but I would think that your supposedly 'indirect' involvement in her fiancé's death has _quite_ a bit to do with it." She felt his fingers trail down her throat, then stop all of a sudden. His other arm shifted around her waist. She looked down and found his staff at level with her own.

"I thought it felt a little different," he said quietly. "Miss Jiima, when did you acquire a new staff?"

"It isn't new; it's the same one I've always had. Quit changing the subject." She elbowed him hard in the abdomen. "And let go of me, would you? I'm trying to find Ozzel, and that shrieking sound didn't help me out any."

Xellos complied, a little reluctantly she noted, and Jiima whirled around to face him, unconsciously fixing her top. "Just what _was_ that sound anyway? Some kind of alert or something?"

"Indeed it was, but I shouldn't worry about it if I were you," Xellos replied with his usual grin. He held one finger up cheerfully. "It would seem that our friends in the cult are experiencing some difficulty with their preparations."

Jiima raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

**…**

Valgaav shook his head violently in an attempt to rid himself of the awful ringing noise the factory whistle had left in his ears. First he'd been forced out of his hiding place in the basement, then there'd been that little scrap with Eris, and now he was having his ears blasted off? If he ever caught up with Xellos, he was going to pummel that monster into the ground. After all, he _did_ have Ragud Mezegis with him again...

"Noonsa! Rahanimu! I thought I told you _not_ to sound off the signal _until_ _I gave you the order!_" a woman's voice bellowed angrily, startling Valgaav from his deliciously evil ruminations.

"Well, sorry, High Priestess," a bumbling voice returned sheepishly. "It was just an accident, ya know…"

"Accident or not, you've just made matters worse!" Valgaav could hear Eris screech as he quietly stalked in the direction of the voices. "And you, Rahanimu, of _all_ people should know that there are _other_ methods of checking to see if the factory whistle works!"

Valgaav froze in front of a large set of double doors as a musical glugging seemed to answer in response. He looked at the heavy padlocks with a frown. Sneaking in obviously wasn't an option.

Golden eyes darted along the darkened hallway before they rested on the entry to the airshafts. Carefully setting Ragud Mezegis on the ground next to him, he knelt down and deftly took the screws off the panel, quietly setting the piece of metal aside before grabbing his weapon and stepping into the shaft and pulling the panel back over the opening once more.

If there was one thing Valgaav prided himself on, it was his incomparable knowledge of the ventilation system in many of the complex's buildings. The various shafts and hidden passages had been his saving grace for well over sixty years now and not even Xellos could figure out how he'd managed to become so well-acquainted with a system whose blueprints had been burned long ago by an irate Taforashian belonging to neither the Ceipheid Knights nor the Shabranigdo cult.

It was to that ill-fated human Valgaav owed his continued existence.

In a span of perhaps only a few minutes, the wiry aqua-haired man found himself in the shafts above the room he'd been in front of earlier. Quickly finding a small opening in ceiling, he lay on his stomach and watched from his lofty position as various black-and-red uniform-clad beings milled about on the floor below. To his left were two fishmen, apparently absorbed in looking over the large factory whistle overhead.

"… but having _fishmen_ of all things working on the signal! Honestly, Eris, what in Shabranigdo's name were you _thinking_?"

Golden shard-like eyes shifted over to the right, resting upon two obviously female figures overlooking the progress.

"What did you expect me to do?" Eris snapped. "I have Coatl and Vrumugun overseeing things in the dungeons, and both Xellos _and_ Zuuma disappeared again, which doesn't surprise me any; Dilgear's in charge of the setup in the sacrificial chambers. Who _else_ could I have put in charge of fixing the whistle?"

Valgaav frowned as he watched Gioconda snap her ever-present fan shut in irritation.

"Oughtn't _you_ be overseeing the preparations in the chamber?" she demanded, giving the High Priestess a calculating look.

"I should be, but I was instructed to watch the time." The High Priestess sighed heavily. "As for everyone else, I don't have a clue what to do with them."

Gioconda snorted. "You'd think that after a hundred years they'd have their priorities straightened out.

"Indeed."

His eyebrows cinched together in thought. Why was nothing being done about his walking around with Ragud Mezegis? Certainly Eris hadn't forgotten…

"Mr. Valgaav, what are you doing?" Valgaav looked up to find a pair of teal and gold eyes staring up at him intently, a small face scrunched with curiosity.

He fought back a scowl and quietly pressed a finger to his lips, indicating the need for silence. He pointed to the grate overlooking the scene and pressed his finger to his lips once more.

The little girl nodded and mimicked the action, looking down at the scene as well.

Valgaav cursed his luck. No matter how hard he tried to shake her off, he could never seem to get rid of Mimsy Borogoves-Metallium. Xellos' niece had a knack for finding him in darndest places.

"You mentioned earlier seeing that half-breed wandering about with one of the Dark Star weapons," Gioconda continued. "Aren't you worried about _that_ little detail?"

Eris met her questioning gaze with an evil smirk. "One reason I'm not particularly concerned about Zuuma's current whereabouts is because he didn't disappear until _after_ I mentioned Valgaav."

The man in question swore under his breath. If _Zuuma_ was after him, he was _so_ fu–.

He sputtered upon feeling something strangely slippery and not the least bit pleasant shoved into his mouth.

Valgaav spat the offending object out and glared at it upon the realization that it was a bar of soap. He turned his glare onto Mimsy, who as looking at him as innocently as possible. That look couldn't fool him no matter _how_ cute she made it; the more innocent that little brat appeared, the guiltier she really was.

"What did you do that for?" he growled, brandishing the bar of soap in her face. He squeezed it a bit too tightly and it slipped, causing him to gasp and catch it once again, this time holding it with a considerable amount of restraint to keep it from slipping a second time.

Mimsy didn't even so much as flinch. "Mr. Valgaav said a dirty-wordy and needed to have his mouth cleaned out. Uncle Xellos says it's impolite to say bad words in front of a lady."

"That doesn't mean you have to put _soap_ in my mouth!" he snapped, stopping himself much too late to realize the damage had already been done.

"Did you hear anything?" he heard Gioconda say. With another growl, he sat up straight, keeping away from the grating so as not to be seen. Mimsy did the same. It was not until he heard Eris yelling at the two fishmen that Valgaav dared look down once more.

Satisfied he hadn't attracted their unwanted attention, he fixated his gaze on Xellos' tiny niece.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't follow me," he said, this time remembering to keep his voice low.

"But I'm so _lonely_," Mimsy whimpered in protest. Valgaav's look didn't improve as he forced himself to swallow the next curse that threatened to pass over his tongue.

"Then why don't you go bother your Uncle Xellos?" he suggested, turning and his knees and grabbing the Dark Star weapon he'd finally gotten back. On hands and knees he crawled, hoping to leave the child behind. But he felt something slide underneath him, and looked down in irritation.

Mimsy's impish face looked right back up at him, sheets of dark teal bangs falling from her forehead.

"Uncle Xellos is too busy to play, and Auntie Filia doesn't want to," she said. "And I haven't seen Auntie Jiima in long time, either."

"Auntie _Jiima_?"

"She's a special friend of mine."

'_Probably an imaginary friend. Of all the stupid –!" _"So what do you want _me_ to do about it?" Valgaav demanded, not very comfortable having the little girl right underneath him. He _detested_ children.

"Can I stay with you?" she pleaded. "Pretty please? I'm sorry I put the soap in your mouth; I won't do it again."

Valgaav could feel the irritation engraved in his features only deepen further. That look on her face was really starting to grate on his nerves. Why did she have to pout like that?

"Fine," he relented, unable to take much more of The Look. "Just keep out of trouble and try not to make any noise, you got it?"

Mimsy's face broke into a toothy smile as she nodded emphatically, and crawled ahead of the aqua-haired man. Uncle Xellos was right again – Mr. Valgaav really _was_ a nice person!

Valgaav wasn't quite so happy. Why in the world did Xellos' little brat have to constantly follow him around like some kind of puppy?

**…**

"As long as Coatl and Zuuma don't come anywhere near me, I personally don't care what your crazy cultist buddies do," Jiima said with a shrug. "I'm only here to help you finish what we started, and that's only because Lord Beastmaster ordered it."

"In that case, I would recommend you proceed a bit more _quietly_," Xellos suggested teasingly. Jiima shot him a dirty look.

"Aren't you supposed to be handling Valgaav or something?"

"Oh, Valgaav's already been taken care of," he assured her with a grin. "And unless I'm very much mistaken, don't you have a doll to find?"

"Well, that's what I _was_ doing," she huffed. "Honestly, Xellos, why do you always have to go and bug me when I've got work to do?"

"Because for only twelve days out of the year, I find that things liven up a bit more."

"Meaning that for twelve days out of the year, _you_ have someone else to _bother_."

"Oh, come now, Miss Jiima –"

"Don't you 'Miss Jiima' me," she interrupted, waving a finger in front of him. "You have a redhead you're supposed to be watching, so hop to it, Beast Priest!"

"Yes, ma'am!" He gave a mock salute and promptly phased out.

Jiima blinked twice before allowing herself a small, lopsided grin. Over a century of confinement hadn't changed the Trickster Priest a bit. That was both a godsend and a curse.

'_Still,'_ she thought, casting a sober look down at her staff, _'I didn't think he'd notice any changes…'_

She shook herself mentally and resumed her search. If that whistle had truly been a mistake, it only meant that she'd have to double her efforts to find Ozzel. Those Shabranigdo cultists were turning out to be a really impatient bunch – one whole century ought to have cured them of that.

Of course, since when did reality ever conform to expectations?

**…**

Lina munched thoughtfully on her candy bar, taking the pains to chew, taste, and swallow instead of doing her usual trick of virtually inhaling her food. Rezo would probably have absolutely no idea this wasn't her standard – if Luna were here, she'd have been suspicious from the moment Lina offered one of her precious snacks.

She was still churning Rezo's story in her mind. It all sounded perfectly sound and above-board as far she could tell, and he wasn't coming across as a threat. If anything, she felt a bit concerned for his wellbeing. Trying to figure his way around the massive complex with both of his assistants missing was rather perilous. He really oughtn't to have been left alone. What were those people _thinking_? With Xellos and Eris as assistants and a great-grandson that he claimed despised him atop of being blind, it was safe to assume that Rezo didn't have it easy.

Lina frowned. The more she thought about Xellos and Eris, the more confused she became. Rezo indicated that Xellos at the very least was a bit eccentric, but a man who shows up at random _and_ a woman laying claim to the position of High Priestess of Saillune's Shabranigdo cult was taking things a bit too far.

The question was, was Rezo lying, or were those other two just plain crazy?

If there was one thing Lina Inverse prided herself on, it was her judge of character. Eris and Xellos probably had a few screws loose, that purple-headed prankster in particular. Rezo seemed to take them in stride, but she doubted he had any real idea as to what either of them did in their spare time.

As for _Rezo_…

She cast a glance over in his direction and grinned a bit as she watched him chew thoughtfully on the candy bar she'd thrown at him. Judging by the look on his face, the food item was a bit of a foreign taste to him. It was actually pretty amusing.

Taking another bite of her own snack, Lina considered the blind man before her. He seemed to be okay in her book so far. He didn't come across as having any ulterior motives – he was probably just as baffled as she was. He'd certainly been startled at the noises they'd heard, although his comment about there being intruders had been a bit odd. The only thing she could conclude was that, having only just come into ownership of the complex, he'd be concerned about vagrants and looters. That was understandable; Amelia's cousin Alfred tended to be a bit overprotective of his properties, too.

'_But what about that weird shrieking noise? It sounded like some kind of whistle…'_

She swallowed down the last bit of her candy bar and gazed absentmindedly at the nutritional guide on the back of the empty wrapper. Before that shriek they'd heard a sneeze come from a room that had been trashed. Someone had flung a rubber chicken out the door before Lina looked in, and she hadn't seen anyone there.

"_I am only one of many spectres skulking in the shadows of this complex."_

Lina hadn't forgotten about the aqua-haired man with the horn. She wondered just who he was: a vagrant? He certainly didn't come across as anyone who would work for Rezo…

They said the Greywers Complex was haunted – ever since the day the son and the grandfather of Arlen Greywers vanished, such rumors had circulated around turn-of-the-century Saillune. It wasn't until Coatl the Killer's reign of terror subsided following his disappearance in the complex that anyone truly believed the tales. Eerie, haunting melodies, wraithlike shadows, mysterious creaks – it was the stuff that stereotypical ghost stories were made of. But with everything that she'd experienced thus far, Lina couldn't help but wonder if maybe all those stories were true after all.


	9. Trapped

**Chapter 9: Trapped**

"A 'candy bar' is a very strange item," Rezo concluded. Lina looked over in the blind man's direction and laughed silently at the thoughtful look on his face.

"I guess you've never had one before," she observed, taking the empty wrapper from his hand.

"No, I haven't," he admitted with a crooked grin. "It was a rather… _interesting_ experience."

Lina shrugged as she tossed the wrapper over her shoulder. "Too bad it's one of those generic ones. If I'd had one of the big league candy bars, it would've been a whole lot better." She sighed and looked around. "Well, now that we've had something to eat, I think we should probably get back to finding that exit. I don't know how you can hide a door, but Xellos couldn't have just made it disappear so easily."

"Perhaps it hasn't disappeared at all. It could have been that in your panic you simply lost your way and found yourself farther away from the door than you'd initially anticipated," Rezo suggested.

Lina shook her head. "No, that can't be it. I only walked down that one hallway, and I ran into that wall when I tried to get to the exit. I _know_ I didn't get turned around."

Rezo contemplated her statement for a moment. "Well, then… I suppose that there is really only one solution to your problem: as it is Xellos who led you away from it, it would be safe to assume that –"

"If we find Xellos, we find the door," Lina finished with a wicked grin. "I had a feeling that might be the case; I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page."

"It seems as though we are." Rezo unknowingly returned the grin.

"Great!" Lina lept up from her seat on the stool and brandished her metal pipe with a flourish. "And now to find Xellos!"

"Uh… Miss Lina?" She froze. Looking around, she found Rezo frowning in her direction

"What's up?"

"Do you have an idea where Xellos might be at the moment?"

She faltered and laughed nervously. "Uh… no, not really."

Rezo face-faulted.

**…**

Where Xellos was not even _she_ was certain, but the bespectacled intruder had things on her mind other than the purple-headed trickster at the moment.

"Oh, don't tell me I got the wrong storeroom _again_!" Jiima groaned to herself, looking along the shelves lined with peculiar and frankly odd items. She'd anticipated the tomes and vials, but the fifteen jack-in-the-boxes and the occasional doll once again just didn't seem _right_ in a magician's lab's storage room. Neither did that day-glo orange teddy bear.

Then again, this was Rezo the Red Priest she was dealing with. That pop-up snake she'd found in a fake copy of a Claire Bible manuscript was just another one of the sage's little jokes. The fact that she'd "confiscated" it had absolutely _nothing_ whatsoever to do with Xellos and his perpetual job of hunting and destroying suspected manuscripts. If he happened to chance upon it at some point in the future, that was his business.

Her eyes scanned the area for any sign of the friend she'd been forced to put into storage a little less than ninety-five years ago. The memory of the day Ozzel had been deactivated still made Jiima's heart wrench, and even more so upon remembering the day she'd saved the doll from the incinerator. When had Rezo Greywers become so merciless to the people who'd genuinely cared about him?

A gentle coughing brought her from her thoughts. She looked in the sound's direction, only to let out a sharp gasp.

"Oh… so it's you again… It's been quite some time hasn't it, Miss…?" He paused, eyebrows knitting together in concentration. "… Jiima, wasn't it?"

Jiima grasped her staff tightly as she stared back into the mismatched gold and emerald eyes staring at her intently from the darkness where he'd been chained to the cold brick wall.

"_Reggie_?" She knelt down in front of the man, appalled by his haggard state. "What _happened_ to you? I thought Rezo destroyed you!"

"He didn't. I don't think he could." He sighed and shook his head. "In the end, he decided to lock me away in here to rot. I don't know how long I've been in this dismal place. It's a storage room, isn't it?"

Jiima's frown increased tenfold, but she hesitated in offering assistance. She'd long thought this being deceased. To find it quite the reverse was most unsettling… and there was something… _different_ about him now…

"Please, Miss Jiima, set me free…" the man begged, but his eyes were still full of something she couldn't quite place. Whatever it was, she wasn't sure she liked it. "I feel like a caged animal. It's been so long since I've been allowed to even walk around like a normal person… and I'm so hungry… Please?"

There were several things in the Red World that unnerved the Jiima, and she'd long since thought her fear of Copies had disappeared after getting to know "Reginald", as she'd come to call him. Copies were unnatural, things made of alchemy and magic – _manmade_.

"_Just like Ozzel, and Ozzel has a soul,"_ she'd rationalized to herself all those years ago, back when she'd discovered how truly and surprisingly… _trustworthy_ this Copy had been.

But _now_…

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I can't," she said after a moment, standing up, eyes still trained on the Copy.

"By that, you mean you _won't_." Reginald sighed and lowered his head, slowly closing his eyes as he did so.

"You aren't supposed to be alive, Reg."

Jiima stared at him for a time upon receiving no response, then tilted her head to the side, wondering if perhaps he'd gone back to sleep.

"The doll."

His statement made her nearly jump out of her skin. Emerald and gold looked back up at her once more, the Copy's face covered with a fairly twisted grin as violet bangs fell into his eyes.

"You're looking for the doll, are you not? Miss Ozzel?" Reg's voice came out smoother than silk. "You will not find her in here. The set of crates you'd hidden her in was moved to Storage Room 217 in this building. You'll find her on the second floor."

Jiima looked at him suspiciously. "Wait, how do you know that I'm looking for Ozzel?"

The Copy's smile turned mischievous. "Because I watched you when you hid her."

The stunned look on the girl's face betrayed her, and Reginald could hardly suppress a chuckle as she fumed. Of course he'd watched her perform her tasks – that had been one of his favorite pastimes prior to his imprisonment, particularly when she'd included her doll friend. It wasn't often a rare astral entity graced him with its appearance.

Jiima's eyes narrowed, but the Copy could see the mixture emotions playing in the electric blue orbs.

"I'm still me, Miss Jiima."

She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. "I sure hope you are, Reg; because if you aren't, then I don't need you as an enemy. Sorry, but I can't help you now. Maybe I'll come back later."

"Nobody listens to a Copy," he sighed to himself miserably as she phased out from sight. He looked forlornly up at the grate in the ceiling, his only source of light from outside the confines of his lonely prison. "Nobody ever listens to me anymore. You always used to, Miss Jiima. I wonder what happened." He turned to his bound hands and grimaced. "Is it because of what he did to me? Can you see what he's done?"

**…**

"Well, do _you_ have any idea where he might be?" Lina prompted in an attempt to shove the embarrassment off.

Rezo could only offer her a sheepish sort smile. "Sadly, no."

Lina slapped her palm against her forehead. "Well, I should've seen that one coming."

"However…" Lina peered at him through her fingers. Rezo's sheepish grin looked a bit more confident.

"However…?" she prompted.

"It may behoove us to look in the direction of that awful shrieking noise we heard earlier."

Lina blinked in surprise. "Yeah… but…" she looked down the darkened hallway, a flash of lightning illuminating the surroundings briefly before plunging them back into the eerie shadows. "We don't even know where that sound _came from_."

"I think I can take a guess as to its approximate vicinity," he offered. "Being as I am, my hearing is much superior to yours. Unless I'm very much mistaken, the shriek seemed to have come from the floor above us and a little to the left."

She blinked again. "You're good."

"No, I'm not," he laughed sheepishly. "This sort of thing happens when one of the five senses is compromised: another one picks up the slack in its place. But this is only an estimation. Without hearing that shriek again, I couldn't possibly pinpoint –"

_SHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

"Wow, it actually happened," Lina said, looking about wildly.

"This way!"

Rezo seized her roughly by the wrist and spun her round. He let her go as he barreled towards a nearby hallway, his cane thwacking about wildly as he ran.

"Hey, Rezo!" she called out, scrambling after him. She gripped onto her pipe even harder as she ran. "Wait up!"

**…**

"Was that good, High Priestess?" The fishman holding onto the brass lever looked over to the raven-haired woman.

"Very good, Noonsa," Eris responded with an affirmative nod. "I want you to sound off the whistle no more than three times, and put a minute in-between each time."

"Yes, High Priestess."

"Rahanimu!" A musical glugging came as the response. "I want you to watch out for the girl, and report back here immediately so we can continue our preparations."

Another glug and the second fishman took off like a shot, smashing through the locked doors as he did so.

"You idiotic flounder!" Gioconda screeched. "Next time, why don't you open the door _before_ you go charging?"

"Because that's how Rahanimu acts," Eris proffered with a sigh. "Fishpeople in general have one-track minds, so what do you expect?"

"In _this_ cult faction?" Gioconda's fan snapped open, covering the lower portion of her face. "Not much."

**…**

"217… 217… Bingo!"

Despite her misgivings, Jiima had decided to follow the imprisoned Copy's advice after all. It went against her usual method of doing things but, for some strange reason, it didn't seem all that impossible that he'd been watching her from the shadows…

'_Given who the original is, I guess it isn't all _that_ surprising,' _she thought with a frown as she jiggled the handle, finding it to be locked, unsurprisingly. _'Copies take on the original's power and whatnot, right?'_

She opted to teleport into the room, and quickly held up a Lighting orb in the black abyss of the storeroom.

'_I can understand him watching unnoticed, but what I want to know is what _else_ did he see?'_ Her train of thought did not bode well. It wasn't a pleasant thought, but if Reg had seen anything in regards to the pact she'd been shoved into with Xellos…

She shook herself mentally. _'Knock it off, Jii. You've got other things to worry about at the moment. Besides, Reggie was probably locked up before then, so there's nothing to worry about… right?'_

Wrong. No sooner as she'd thought it, she heard the loud screech of the factory whistle, and startled herself into accidentally putting out the Lighting orb.

"Th-that wasn't a mistake this time," she muttered nervously. The orb nestled in the wings of the silver firebird at the top of her staff illuminated the room in a gentle aquamarine light.

'_Reg, if you really _are_ the same Copy I knew back then, you'd better have been telling me the truth about Ozzel.'_

**…**

"Rezo!" Lina clambered up the stairs in pursuit of the blind man, the pounding of his feet growing faint as his long legs carried him away. "Rezo! Slow down, would you? I can't keep up!"

"Miss Lina!" she could hear him calling. "Miss Lina, follow the sound of my voice!"

"Damn it, Rezo, I –" she was cut off by the screeching again.

Reeling into the side rail, she scrambled up to the top and looked around frantically, ears ringing painfully.

"REZO!"

**…**

'_I can hear her… she's getting close.'_ Sapphire blue eyes snapped open and narrowed into slits. "Better get ready, Pokota."

**…**

Jiima cringed at the second scream of the factory whistle but didn't falter as she threw the fourth large box to the side, vials and beakers shattering on impact. She grabbed her staff and climbed over the remaining boxes, waving the glowing orb about in search of –

"Found you!" she breathed, her face breaking out into a wide smile.

In the corner of the small hideaway in the center of the piled box, crumpled in a pitiful bundle, was Ozzel.

**…**

"Miss Lina, this way!"

Lina skidded to a halt where the hall became a crossroads. She looked around, eyes straining to see a glint from Rezo's walking stick in the darkness. Outside the rain continued to pound on the roof, thunder and lightning cracking in accompaniment to the violent symphony.

Which way had he gone?

Another loud shriek soon gave her the answer. Not wanting to waste another moment, Lina made to dart down the path to her right when –

"This way, Miss Lina! Hurry up!"

Lina stopped short and looked back incredulously in the direction of the left-hand passage. She could have sworn that she'd heard Rezo's voice come from that direction, but…

'_Wait…'_ she thought with a frown. _'Rezo said he was following the sound of the shrieking, so why –?'_

She shook herself mentally. It had to be the acoustics of this old building that were playing tricks on her. Why would Rezo want to go in the _opposite_ direction?

Grasping onto the pipe even harder, Lina started back in her original direction towards the sound of the factory whistle.

"_Oh, no. Not _that_ direction, Miss Lina."_

"Xellos?" She stopped short again. She'd recognize that taunting voice from anywhere.

A sudden noise from the stretching darkness ahead of her made her freeze. Squinting to see what it was, she let out a yelp when she saw something large and dark speeding in her direction. She dived and covered her head, the metal pipe falling down next to her with a loud clang as the blur sped over her, creating a rush of wind that blew her bangs from her face.

Hesitantly, Lina lifted her head and looked over her shoulder to find the blur still speeding away. Snatching her pipe back up, she made a break towards where she'd heard the sound.

To her horror, the blur made a u-turn and headed back in her direction. Lina slammed herself into nearest wall just before the speeding mass could hit her, and ran instead in the direction of Rezo's voice.

Again, the blur followed. With a curse under her breath, Lina tried as many doors as she could until one finally gave. She darted over the threshold and slammed the door shut milliseconds before the thing sped by again.

With a huge sigh of relief, Lina leaned up against the wall to her left.

**…**

"Hehehe. Excellent job, Miss Lina. You were most amusing," Xellos said with a chuckle as he teleported just outside the door she'd slammed. He passed his hand over the doorknob. Hearing the reassuring click of the lock sliding into place, his ever-present grin widened.

"Now let's see how Zelgadis handles her." He cackled again. "My, my… I wonder how he'll react when he sees the resemblance. This should prove to be _very_ entertaining."

**…**

The click of the lock echoing in the empty room gave Lina a start. Whirling around, she tried to jiggle the handle but no avail.

"Damn!" she hissed, and proceeded to wail on the door; still, it would not budge.

She was trapped.

**…**

A pair of goldenrod eyes slowly opened in the pale aquamarine light, fringes of dark red bangs partially obscuring her vision.

"Haha! She _lives_!" a voice cheered nearby.

The doll blinked several times as the familiar bespectacled face became clearer, electric blues eyes sparkling merrily from behind silver frames.

"M-Miss… Jiima?" she spoke softly, her voice rough from a near century's lack of use.

Jiima's grin intensified, making her look more like the Cheshire cat than a person.

"Welcome back, Ozzel."


End file.
